Sweet Dreems
by Eltyr
Summary: A well-meaning internet writer manages to use his imagination to give Asriel Dreemurr a happy ending... by creating a world for him using fanfiction! Now join Asriel and the rest of the gang from Undertale as they have the TRUE ending everyone wants and begin a new adventure to find something important that has been lost. UP FOR ADOPTION. PM ME.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Welcome to Sweet Dreems, and thank you so much for contributing to my plan. I made this fanfic in order to help out a brave little hero from the game that we know as Undertale. If the title didn't make it obvious, I'm talking about Asriel Dreemurr. This fanfic is slightly AU but includes the characters and events of Undertale, but in a way you probably aren't expecting. This fanfic will also involve a LOT of fourth-wall breaking at times, particularly… well, read on and you'll see what I mean. Stick around after the chapter for a note from me, and I hope that you enjoy Sweet Dreems.**

 **Soul Interface Module V. 1 Iteration 1**

 _Alright, here goes nothing. By the stretch of the human imagination, and taking into account the fourth wall and the many quantum theories, along with the theory of infinite universes, then somewhere, some when, this is ACTUALLY working. Oh right, and of course I'm also doing this with determination, can't forget that._

A small garden comprised mostly of soft green grass and a few bird-feeders, with two benches surrounding the centerpiece. Said centerpiece is a bed of beautiful sunflowers, marigolds and buttercups. The garden is contained within a small greenhouse, one with a single door at the back. Beyond the greenhouse there are (literally) endless flat fields of green grass with an occasional hill or two thrown in, along with oak trees here and there. The sky is a magnificent shade of blue and contains enormous white clouds at varying altitudes. The sun is warm, there is a pleasant breeze, and birdsong can be heard.

 _Setting: check. It'd be cruel to drop him into a blank space. Okay, now to put him in it…_

Within the very center of the garden, nestled among the yellow flowers was a child. This child wore a green shirt with yellow stripes and black pants, and from his appearance could have been either eight or ten years of age. This was no human child though: he was covered head to toe in a coat of soft white fur, his mouth was a soft maw, his ears were long, hanging down either side of his head like a goat's, and he had two tiny horns growing out of the top of his head. His face bore a peaceful expression as he seemed to sleep without a care in the world.

 _I imagine a place. In this place, I imagine a child. I imagine that this child… is Asriel Dreemurr. And I imagine that he has a SOUL._

 _Little prince Asriel, can you hear my voice?_

Asriel's face scrunched up slightly as he stirred in his sleep. He sat up with a great yawn and sleepily rubbed his eyes, not yet registering his surroundings. Slowly his expression changed from one of drowsiness to one of confusion.

"Huh? What is this place? Am I dreaming?"

 _Don't be afraid, but this isn't a dream._

Asriel sat up straighter and looked around alertly. "H-hello? Who's there?"

 _I'm sorry, I'm trying really hard not to scare you. You won't be able to find me, because I'm in a place that's… above you? Sorry, there's no way for me to explain it that will make any sense at all. Let's just say for now that I can see and hear you, but you can only hear me._

"O-kay?" Asriel said uncertainly as he slowly climbed to his feet. Examining his surroundings more closely he found that he was in a tiny garden of some sort… _on the surface!_

"The surface!? How'd I get here?"

 _I brought you here, young prince. What you see isn't actually your reality: it's a world I created and am continuing to create._

Asriel's brow wrinkled in puzzlement. "Huh?"

 _This is going to sound super weird and unbelievable, but… I am, at this moment, writing a story, and as I write it, things happen in the world I brought you into. In other words, you are inside my story, and by writing new parts of the story I cause things to happen in the world you are inside of._

Asriel's eyes widened in amazement. "W-w-wait a second, are you saying that I'm inside a make-believe story?!"

 _In a way, yes. I used my determination and imagination to imagine that Asriel Dreemurr is waking up inside a small greenhouse on the surface, and here you are._

"Whoa…" Asriel mumbled. "But… why?"

 _Because… I have nothing better to do._

 **That** confused Asriel thoroughly. "Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

 _Didn't you say "Don't you have anything better to do?" to Frisk?_

Asriel gasped. "H-how do you know about that? About Frisk?" His heart skipped a beat when he realized something. "Wait… how… how am I not a flower?! How is it I have a SOUL?"

 _Because I want you to have one, Asriel. Because it's just not fair that you were the only one who couldn't leave the Underground. You see, in the world I live in, Frisk's adventures in the Underground is a computer game called Undertale. In it, players can guide Frisk through the Underground to return to the surface… and they can choose to kill monsters to gain LOVE and Exp, or spare them all and make friends with everyone._

Asriel sank onto one of the benches, his thoughts whirling. "So you mean… people in your world see into our world like it's a game..? And they…" He grit his teeth in anger. "They can make Frisk kill?"

 _Technically, they can make Chara take control of Frisk to kill._

Asriel gasped. "Chara?! I…" His face slowly fell. "…oh. So that means… you guys know everything, don't you?"

 _Yes Asriel. And so many of us hate what we call playing a "Genocide" route, so most of us prefer to see the timeline where Frisk doesn't kill anyone… and you break the barrier in the end. But… we all also feel so strongly the desire to do something for_ _ **you.**_ _We all feel so awful that you get left behind in the dark, doomed to turn back into a soulless flower._

Asriel shook his head slowly. "So… I'm an Asriel that got drawn into this… 'world' that you're making with your writing?"

 _Exactly. I've given you your SOUL back no strings attached, because I—and so many of Undertale's "players," want you to be in the "best ending" too, Asriel. So when I say that I've got nothing better to do than this, I mean it. I'm doing for you what we can't do yet with the "game" of Undertale: using my imagination to create a world in which you aren't left behind. To be honest, I haven't really made the world yet: everything you see now is all that there is for the moment, but I just wanted to reach out to you, make sure you were okay and let you know what's going on._

A few tears began to leak from Asriel's eyes. "All of this… for me? I… I don't…" Asriel sniffled for a few moments as he got his tears under control. "Th-thank you… um, what's your name?"

 _You can call me "Eltyr," it's a writing name I often use. And it's my supreme pleasure, Asriel. I'm just glad that this actually worked._

Asriel smiled brightly. "I'm glad it worked too. Wow, I knew that humans could do amazing things with determination, but this is incredible!"

 _Well you have to remember that I'm not just using determination here: I'm mostly using my imagination at this point. Determination's all well and good, but I've always found that some of the best people in the world all possess a fantastic imagination._

Asriel glanced at his surroundings uncertainly. "So um… what happens now?"

 _I'm still working on that. This is after all a story, and in stories things happen. Often they are exciting things, funny things, sometimes sad or scary things. And unfortunately, as much as I just want to write about you having fun and just… living like you're supposed too, I'm going to have to make something exciting happen eventually._

"Why is that?" Asriel asked. "Er, I mean, I don't mind a little excitement, but why is it important?"

 _Well… would you believe me if I told you that it's been a day since I told you my name?_

Asriel blinked owlishly. "Huh? No it hasn't, it's only been a few seconds!"

 _Only for you. After I wrote my pen name, I had to get off of the computer I'm using to write your story in order to go to bed. I woke up the next morning and had to work all day, and only just now managed to start writing again. The world you're in right now only really exists either when I write it or someone reads It or thinks about it. Whenever neither is happening, this world just… stops. That's why it didn't seem like any time passed._

"Golly…" Asriel whispered. "That's…"

 _Disturbing? Weird? Scary?_

"All of those, yeah," Asriel answered, rubbing an arm nervously.

 _So I've come up with a solution: there's a way to put stories that you write onto the internet for millions and millions of other people to read. As long as someone reads this story, or thinks about the story, this little world I've made for you will continue to exist. But in order to get people to read it, something exciting has to happen so that they'll_ _ **want**_ _to read it. Does all of that make any sense?_

"I think so," Asriel nodded. "So… does that mean I'll need to go on some kind of adventure?"

 _That's my plan so far, yes. Don't worry though, I'm not going to make it so that anything bad or sad happens to you—just the opposite in fact. As a matter of fact… I need to do something real quick where you can't see what's going on._

"Oh, umm, okay I guess. But what am I..?"

 _Don't worry, I've got something for you to do. Let me make you a place to stay. Just watch the space behind the greenhouse door._

As Asriel looked on, a small path paved with flagstones and beds of flowers of many different colors gradually swam into existence, making the young Boss Monster emit noises of amazement and wonder. But that was nothing compared to what appeared at the end: an exact replica of Home, albeit with a second story added on. Asriel slowly opened the greenhouses' screen door and stepped onto the pathway as if in a trance, his eyes riveted to Home and misting up.

 _I figured you'd like to be in a place you recognize. I added a second floor and a basement for… later on, but I've roped them both off for now. I know that an empty Home won't be as cozy as a full one, but just give me an hour or so, and I'll address that little problem, okay?_

"I-I… wow. Thanks Eltyr… I really mean it, thanks for everything."

 _Hehe, don't thank me yet little prince. I have a big adventure planned for you, and I've yet to show you something… that you'll_ _ **really**_ _be thankful for. One hour: get yourself settled in, and enjoy a little of the snail pie on the living room table. When you hear my voice again, it means that I'm about to… reintroduce you to someone. Well, later._

Asriel was puzzled a bit by Eltyr's last statement, but he found himself smiling at the mention of snail pie. He wasn't looking forward to seeing his old Home empty… but Eltyr hadn't let him down yet, so he decided to trust the well-meaning writer. So resolved, Asriel jogged down the pathway towards home, the scent of freshly baked snail pie filling him with… hope.

 _(What, did you guys think I was going to say determination? Wrong! ;P Oh and, Asriel can't see or hear anything I put in these little brackets. Now then…)_

To be continued…

 **Author's note: Hey everyone, thanks for keeping the world I made for Asriel afloat! As I told little Asriel, I DO have a plan for an adventure of sorts, and in the next chapter I'll be bringing in plenty of faces that you know and love from Undertale—**

Asriel: Really? Oh, oh, oh! Will Frisk be there?

 **What the..? Asriel, get out of the notes section! Wait, how'd you get in here?**

Asriel: I… have no idea. What is this exactly? I thought you went off to do something important?

 **I did! It'll happen in the next chapter of the story as soon as I write it! Right now you're in a space where I leave a little message to anyone who might be reading this to thank them for reading and supporting the story!**

Asriel: Ooooooh… Maybe that's why this space looks white and… what are those boxes and symbols?

 **? Gee Asriel, I'm honestly not sure ^^; Maybe you're looking at the advertisements of the website I put the story on? Oh, maybe those boxes are the comments section where readers can leave a comment about the story? This isn't part of the story exactly, so I have** _ **no idea**_ **what you're seeing.**

Asriel: Wow…

 **Hmmm, hey Asriel, mind asking our readers to leave reviews?**

Asriel: Huh? I-I guess so, but why me?

 **They'll like it more if it's you that's asking; trust me, you've got a lot of fans: people think you're cute.**

Asriel: *blushes* O-o-okay. U-umm, please leave a review for Eltyr.

 **You heard the goat-boy, review away and we will both see you in the next chapter!**

Asriel: Hey Eltyr? What are those weird arrows and dots for, after you say that 'you're not sure?'

 **That's an emote, it's when you… WHY IS THE NOTE STILL GOING?!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Oh wow, it's already working! Thanks so much you guys! Asriel look, its working: we have about 25 readers and it hasn't even been an hour in our world yet!**

Asriel: Wow, really? That's… wow!

 **I know, right? This way your world will still exist even when I'm not working on it! Kudos to all of my new readers for helping to make my odd little thought experiment a success! Things are about to pick up a bit in the story, as Asriel is about to have some long overdue visitors ;)**

Asriel: Who are they? Who are they?!

 **Patience Azzy, go back to eating your snail pie and they'll be there before you know it.**

Asriel: 'Kay…

 **Alright, here goes chapter 2! Stick around afterwards for another note! Also, I'd like to try a little something different: throughout future chapters I'm going to suggest that you play certain tracks from the Undertale soundtrack to fit the scene that you're reading. Look for brackets () containing the name of the song, and play it as you read if you want. Okay, let's go!**

 **EDIT: WARNING! EXTREME FEELS HAZARD!**

 **Sweet Dreems Ch. 2: Reunion**

 _Okay, time to give Asriel some company. I'll start with the essentials but, hmmm… I can't take them from any of the happy endings, or it'll damage someone else's happy ending. So that leaves… Ugh, this might be harder than I thought. I'm gonna have to grab everyone from_ those _timelines. I guess that's killing several birds with one stone, since they'll be drawn into a best ending instead of what's waiting for them in their own timelines. There's one now… here we go:_

Something was wrong... but she'd known this all along. She'd tried to ignore the feeling. She'd told herself that the child was just scared. She'd nearly convinced herself that it was dirt, and not dust, clinging to the child's hands. But…

"You…" The pain was incredible: her body felt as though it was being torn apart, but that was nothing compared to the pain she felt in her heart. "…at my most vulnerable moment…" Her knees were buckling… And the child was… _smiling._

And then the pain vanished. Startled, she found that she was kneeling in the middle of a patch of golden flowers, enclosed within a small greenhouse. There was a warm light shining down upon her, and her wounds were completely gone.

 _Do not be afraid, queen Toriel. You are safe, and under the protection of a friend._

Toriel blinked in surprise, both at her relocation, the mending of her wounds, and the disembodied voice addressing her. "Wh-what? Where..? What is happening!?"

 _I have rescued you from death by removing you from your world and placing you here, in an alternate version of your own. Do not be discouraged if that confuses you: I will do my best to help you make sense of all of this. Just know that I mean you absolutely no harm._

Toriel slowly rose to her feet, inspecting herself for any trace of the injuries inflicted by that… human. "A… alternate world? I don't understand… who are you?"

 _My name is Eltyr. You may consider me a sort of guardian who watches over this world. I am able to cause things to happen in this world by using determination and imagination. Through this method, I created the garden you are sitting in now, and I pulled you from your own world and healed you._

Toriel's eyes widened. "There is such a creature that can do these things?"

 _Indeed. In fact, if this was the world you came from, I could simply say that the barrier is gone… and it would be so._

Toriel honestly had no response to that. This 'Eltyr' sounded as though it was similar to what people might call a god.

 _I would prefer not to be called a god; apologies for overhearing your thoughts._

"O-oh," Toriel said, startled. "Very well then." She fell silent for a moment as she gathered her thoughts. "So… this world, you called it an alternate version of my world?"

 _Yes. It has a Mount Ebott, and it is the year 201X, but I have made it so that there are key differences, this garden for starters, and the fact that you are on the surface._

Toriel gasped. Looking beyond the glass walls of the greenhouse, she saw rolling hills, a blue sky filled with clouds and… a warm sun. Despite the terror and pain of her recent ordeal, Toriel found herself smiling and closing her eyes, taking a moment to enjoy the feeling of the sun on her face. After a length of time had passed, she straightened up and glanced about the garden uncertainly.

 _…have you had enough time to enjoy the sun, lady Toriel?_

"Yes… thank you very much," Toriel smiled. "But I have to ask, why did you save me? It isn't that I'm ungrateful, but I cannot help but wonder if you have something planned for me?"

 _As a matter of fact… you are here because I need your help._

"My help? What do you need my help for?"

 _I created this world in order to help a brave hero. One who endured torment and suffered more than any creature should in order for many others to go free. In his world, this individual was responsible for breaking the barrier and setting all of monster kind free._

Toriel's placed a hand over her mouth to stifle her gasp.

 _This little hero… he went through pain, madness, loneliness. But in the end he selflessly broke the barrier even though he knew that doing so would doom him to be forever trapped in the Underground, all alone. I could not stand that. So I took him from his world and brought him here, shortly before I rescued you._

Toriel sat down on one of the benches, trying to process her shock. "So, this hero… You called me here to help him?"

 _Indeed. You are absolutely vital to ensuring that this hero has the happy ending that he deserves. In a way, ensuring his happy ending will ensure a happy ending for you as well._

"What… do you mean by that?" Toriel asked.

 _Well… about the child you were fighting when I saved you…_

Toriel shivered involuntarily at the memory of the child's eyes.

 _No, no, there's more to it than that. This will take some time to explain properly…_

Several long minutes passed, during which time the sun slowly began to drift towards the horizon, bathing the world in twilight. Toriel could only listen in a mixture of fascination and horror as Eltyr told her of Frisk, the power of determination, and eventually: Chara's cruel plan.

"No…" Toriel could not prevent the tears that came to her eyes. "Asriel… I didn't realize Chara was capable of such horrible things! And y-you're certain that it was Chara who was responsible for the child's actions?"

 _Completely. Of course, Chara is only able to do that in what I told you is called a "Genocide" timeline, and I intentionally rescued you from such a timeline so as not to snatch the Toriel of a happier timeline away from where she is meant to be._

"Then…" Toriel cupped a hand to her mouth in horror. "In the world you just saved me from..?"

 _Normally yes. But I'm a sore loser, so I've made it so that particular timeline ended the moment you left it. Completely gone, as if it was never there._

"I… see."

 _You are not the only one I have rescued from Genocide timelines. I have also removed many others from Genocide timelines. In fact… I have removed one individual from each Genocide timeline whenever Chara tried to kill them. So in effect… it's as if no-one died at all, and they've all been moved to a small town a few miles away from your current location. Well, aside from two particular individuals, who will make their way here shortly. Some of the ones I've saved will remember the moment Chara tried to kill them, but I've spoken to them and done my best to ease their trauma. Some hurts still haunt them, but I have a plan to take care of that as well._

"And you're doing all of this for the hero?" Toriel clarified. It then occurred to her… "Wait, you have yet to tell me his name."

 _Yes… and there is a reason for that. If you look to the rear of the greenhouse you will notice a door, and beyond it a path leading to…_

Toriel did a double-take at what she saw. "B-but that's… that's Home! How..?"

 _Remember, I am the guardian of this world, and with my determination and imagination I can do virtually everything. The replica of Home that you see is exactly as you left it… albeit tidied up and with a second floor added on. I've also changed the basement so that it's not just a long hallway leading to an exit, but I've roped both it and the upstairs off for now. There's plenty of food in the kitchen, and all of your books are where they should be._

Toriel smiled as she exited the greenhouse and gazed fondly at the flower-lined path leading to Home. Her new home on the surface… Toriel frowned. "Wait, you still haven't told me..?"

 _Run along home, lady Toriel. You will find your answer waiting for you in the living room fast asleep._

Toriel was puzzled by Eltyr's cryptic answer, but it seemed as though that was all the information he was going to volunteer, as any further attempts to communicate were met only with silence. Shaking her head in dismissal, Toriel set out along the path to Home, noticing a figure standing before the porch. She could almost make out their features…

… **somewhere else…**

 _You really are a nasty, stubborn little thing aren't you? LET. GO. In this world, your LOVE, your Exp, it amounts to NOTHING. YOU are nothing. Yet… I still have a use for you. The prince must face himself and put his demons to rest. You… will serve as an excellent final obstacle. But in the end, I have rendered you to just that: an obstacle, nothing more. There is nothing you can do to escape this fate,_ _ **because I do not desire it, so it is not, nor will it ever be.**_ _And once you have served your purpose… for now, I have not decided your final fate._ _ **I am sorely tempted.**_ _But not yet._

 _Now then, into your pretty cage you go, final obstacle. This SOUL is not your toy any more._

 _…There there, little Frisk. I promise, things are about to look up for you. Listen now to what I have to say… and of course, stay determined…_

 **Back with Toriel…**

 _(Play Undertale)_

Toriel stood quivering with anger. "You?! Wh-what are you doing here?"

He shuffled on his feet awkwardly, unable to meet her gaze. "Golly, I'm not really sure myself Tori. I was trying to figure out if the child I was talking to was a human or a monster, and then… poof! Here I am, talking to thin air… and being talked back to by thin air!"

Toriel gritted her teeth and turned her back to him, hands balled into fists. Awkward silence fell between the two.

 _(*Groan.* This is going to be a pain… oh well, once they find the prize inside, I'm sure things will fall into place.)_

He was the one to finally break the silence. "Tori… I know you hate me, and you have every right to," his voice was quiet, and he seemed to be fighting to keep it steady. Toriel remained silent as Asgore continued. "The truth is… I hate me too." Toriel's eyes widened a little, and she couldn't help but glance back at Asgore. His head was bowed, his expression hidden in the shadows cast by the setting sun. Yet Toriel could see weariness in the way he held himself, as if the weight of a mountain rested upon his shoulders. "When our son… when Asriel died, after everything he tried to do for Chara, only to be killed by humans, I… We both felt such pain, and I stupidly lashed out. Maybe if I'd known that Chara had tricked Asriel…" Asgore shook his head slowly. "No. I'm sure that would only have made it worse."

Toriel turned around to face Asgore fully, her expression awash with wonder and curiosity as Asgore continued. "Meeting the other children, I…" Asgore clenched his hands into fists, visibly fighting to stay calm though his breathing hitched. "I thought if I told them about my plan, about what freedom would mean for our people, and what our son suffered through… maybe I could convince them to give me their SOULS willingly." Asgore laughed weakly. "Tori… I'm such a fool, aren't I? Of course they all got scared, especially if they knew that I'd vowed to wage war with the humans again if we ever got free. Some of the children figured they were being heroes by trying to stop me… most of them just wanted to see their homes again." Asgore visibly shook… and then fell to his knees. She was moving before she even knew what was happening, running to his side as though nothing had changed and nothing had ever separated them. She knelt next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, her eyes slowly misting up as she watched glittering tears fall from his face.

"When… when the keeper of this world told me that he'd saved me, I told him that he'd wasted his time. I don't deserve anyone's mercy," Asgore chocked out. "I told him I could never go back to the way things were before, not after all that I've done. But he said… he said, there were more important things than my own redemption waiting in this world. He s-said that I had to come here in order to make sure that the hero—the one that broke the barrier in a happier timeline—got their happy ending." Asgore finally raised his head, a sad smile stretching the corners of his mouth as he gazed at his former queen with tear-filled eyes. "So… here I am. If someone managed to break the barrier without turning into a horrible person like me, but got an unhappy ending, well that just isn't fair, is it Tori?"

Toriel found herself smiling as a few stray tears escaped her. "Asgore… maybe you didn't change quite as much as I thought you had. When I saw how angry you were, and heard your horrible plan… I thought you weren't the kind monster I'd loved anymore. I could only see you full of anger and hate. I didn't pay much thought to the fact that you were suffering too…"

The pair fell silent for a moment, simply letting themselves be there in each other's presence, each filling the other with comfort and strength. Finally Asgore gently took Toriel's hand in his own and pulled the two of them to their feet.

"Thank you, Tori. I… I won't ask you to forgive what I've done. But for now… there's someone in our old Home who needs our help."

Toriel nodded, smiling brightly as she wiped the last of our tears away. "Yes… let us be off." The two Boss Monsters set off along the path again, now only a few feet away from Home's front porch. Neither seemed to notice that Toriel's hand was still held by Asgore's, or if they did they gave no indication that they minded. For that moment at least, the pain was forgotten.

At last the royal couple stepped through Home's front door, both chocked slightly with the memories that greeted them. "It really does look the same…" Toriel muttered breathlessly, gazing about the empty abode in wonder. Asgore merely nodded in agreement and moved further inside, marveling at how accurately their Home had been reproduced, right down to the tiniest crack in the floor molding.

As Toriel was examining the books on one of the shelfs and Asgore moved towards west area of Home, Eltyr's words returned to her: _'You will find your answer waiting for you in the living room, fast asleep.'_ Straightening up, Toriel turned around to relay her revelation to Asgore…

 _(Play Memory… and brace for tears)_

Only to find him rooted to the spot in the living room doorway. Puzzled, she walked closer to her ex-husband, and when she got close enough she saw that his eyes were wide with shock and leaking fresh tears!

"Asgore?" Toriel whispered while turning to the living room. "What's..?"

She froze. How could she not? How could _any_ mother not be struck dumb and immobile by the sight of their dead child, sound asleep in his seat at the dinner table as though not a moment had gone by since that faithful day? Her lip quivered for a moment before her own tears began to fall, barely restrained at all compared to Asgore. She felt him numbly wrap his arm around her frame, and gratefully leaned into his embrace. Despite the mixture of emotions whirling within her, Toriel found herself smiling at the apparition of her little boy, his face propped up on his arms in front of a half-eaten plate of snail pie. Toriel failed to restrain a small hiccup as she sobbed…

…And then he moved. At first she thought it was just her eyes playing tricks on her. But no, his ear had twitched just a little and he'd stirred ever so slightly in his sleep, as if he could…

 _…hear us?_ Toriel frowned. No, that couldn't be…

 _Little prince… little prince._

Toriel looked up slightly upon hearing Eltyr's voice. Next to her Asgore couldn't bring himself to breathe, his embrace around Toriel tightening ever so slightly as hope dared to rise in his heart.

 _Wake up little prince. Your happy ending is about to begin._

Now it was Toriel's turn to be short of breath. Slowly, with motions that caused Toriel's eyes to widen with every movement, Asriel began to sit up from where he slept at the table, rubbing his tired eyes and blearily staring at the plate before him.

 _"Asriel..?"_

Asriel stiffened, his heart racing. _That voice… no-way..!_ He turned as if in slow-motion, and there they were standing in the doorway, their faces filled with shock. His father had an arm draped around his mother protectively, and an incredible joy could just be seen attempting to break through his petrified expression of shock as he silently wept. His mother had both her hands cupped to her mouth, her eyes wide with disbelief and gushing even more tears.

"M-m-mom..? D-dad..?" Five seconds passed. Asriel felt his own eyes swim with tears, but he just couldn't move. He wanted to, for sure: he wanted to jump up and run to them both, to leap right into their arms and hold them tight. But he just… couldn't. Why couldn't he?

Toriel let out a wordless cry, startling both Asriel and Asgore with its suddenness as she rushed into the living room and scooped Asriel up, with Asgore right on her heels as he embraced them both with his big strong arms.

For many, many long minutes the only sounds that came from Home were gentle sobs, hiccups, an occasional whimper and a sigh or two. And then music. A music box that certainly hadn't been on the fireplace mantle began to play. It was a faint, simple tune, but it was a tune that the little family knew quite well. None of them were sure who started it, but someone let out a tiny giggle. It spread to the others, slowly and softly increasing in volume until finally all three of them were laughing even as they cried. It didn't matter that some part of Toriel still carried a tiny bit of resentment towards Asgore for being complacent in the deaths of her six human charges. It didn't matter that Asgore blamed himself for driving his family apart and once thought he'd never see his wife again. And Asriel couldn't care less that his parents… _his parents_ … were hugging him so hard his ribs hurt.

They were here, with him now. And Eltyr had been right: he'd only just now showed Asriel just what he'd have to be thankful for…

…Outside of the Home where three weary hearts filled a small room with warmth, someone else looked upon the house and shivered as the last rays of the sun peaked over the horizon. The sight of the familiar place brought back many memories, most of them unpleasant, and they were filled with apprehension.

…Yet the soft sound of a music box playing from within filled them with determination…

TO BE CONTINUED…

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: YOU GUYS DON'T EVEN KNOW! THE FEELS! T_T Oh man, I listened to Memory with headphones on the entire time I wrote that last part… it has been a long time since I've actually teared up while writing something! Thanks again to all of you wonderful readers for making this fic become popular so quickly: I am overwhelmed by the response from the Undertale fan base here.**

 **Now just think: somewhere out there, in another time in another place, everything you just read might actually be happening. It also might not, of course. But isn't it a wonderful thought? Isn't it nice to think that you might have something to do with making that heart-warming reunion possible? Well, you guys have EVERYTHING to do with it. I would never have researched Undertale extensively enough to discover Asriel if I hadn't continuously heard cries of "Save goat-boy!" and similar sentiment.**

 **So pat yourselves on the back guys: we've saved Asriel Our work isn't done yet though: we have to SAVE everyone to make this best ending genuine. This is normally the point where Asriel would pop in and say something cute, but he's a little preoccupied right now, so he'll get back to you next chapter.**

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter, and in the meantime help this fanfic grow. Re-post this on twitter, Facebook, YouTube, wherever. Do whatever you feel you must to make sure that Asriel's sweet dreams don't ever stop.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Wow, that last chapter was fun to write, but also hard for reasons that you guys may find obvious ;) So our favorite Dreemurr is back with his family, but there's still more to do. After all, didn't all of this start because we, the players, were dissatisfied that we couldn't SAVE everyone? Unfortunately, there isn't a big enough concentration of determination to magically do just that, so we're going to have to do this the hard way…**

Asriel: That doesn't sound good…

 **Don't worry, it's not nearly as bad as you think, it might even be fun. Also, you okay little prince?**

Asriel: Y-yeah, I just…

 **...Let's start the chapter. I'll see you readers at the end note.**

 **Sweet Dreems Ch. 3: Fallen Down**

 _(Play Fallen Down (duh))_

None of them were sure how long they were together like that. It could have been hours or days for all they cared; keeping track of time just wasn't desirable at the moment.

"I… I missed you both so much," Asriel finally managed to say.

Toriel smiled softly and gently kissed the top of her son's head. "We missed you too, my child… my little Asriel…"

Asgore smiled too and gently ruffled his son's hair. "There's a tiny part of me that still can't believe this is real. Some part of me expects to wake up and find out that this was just a dream…" He squeezed his family just a little tighter, their warmth filling up the aching spaces in his heart that were ripped out for each of the six children. "But it's not a dream… this is _real._ "

Asriel sniffled a little as he wiped his tears away, the three of them just sitting together on the living room floor. They eventually ended their group hug and just sat there smiling at each other, with Asriel sitting in Toriel's lap while she gently played with his hair. "Golly, Eltyr told me I'd have visitors, but… I had no idea that he meant you."

Toriel frowned in spite of her happiness as she once again recalled the words that had brought her here. Her eyes widened in realization. "Wait… Eltyr mentioned that the hero who broke the barrier in another timeline was waiting for us here. He… he meant you, didn't he Asriel?" Asgore's eyebrows shot way up at Toriel's revelation.

Asriel nodded, a tiny smile on his face. "Yeah. I don't know how much Eltyr told you, but I…" his expression grew troubled. "I did… a lot of bad things in that timeline. I… I hurt people, I-I even hurt y-"

Toriel cut her son off with another hug, her eyes squeezed shut even as fresh tears leaked from them. "Hush, my little one. It wasn't really you… I _refuse_ to believe that. Eltyr told me about Flowey, though he only said that Flowey was the hollow shell of a monster who had died unfairly. Now that I know that it was you, I'm certain that Flowey must have been influenced by… _her_ … since you died with your SOULS merged."

Asgore nodded, a firm and patient expression upon his face. "That's right. After all, 'kill or be killed,' was never your philosophy, Asriel." He smiled gently and added, "Besides, weren't you the one who stopped her from using you to hurt the humans? Even when… even when it cost you your life, you refused to hurt anyone."

Asriel shook his head, trying to break free from his mother's grip as tears once again threatened to leak from his eyes. "B-b-but then! I should have been able to keep from killing anyone when I was Flowey! F-Flowey shouldn't have been influenced by Chara so much! He shouldn't have done… _I_ shouldn't have done those terrible things!"

Toriel gently rubbed Asriel's back as he began to sob into her arms, her own eyes filled with sorrow and a desperate longing to console her child.

"But what about in the end?" Asriel looked up upon hearing his father's voice. "What about when you fought Frisk? Even through all of your pain and loneliness, underneath all of Chara's hate, Frisk still found your heart, buried away but still there. When she finally got through to you, did you RESET everything like you'd planned to?"

Asriel sniffled. "N-no, but I-"

"Why didn't you?" Asgore asked over his son's protests. "You could have, and you wanted to, but you didn't. Instead you broke the barrier, even when you knew that meant Frisk could leave. And then you released everyone's SOULS. You didn't have to do that: you could have kept all of those SOULS inside of you and never turned back into a flower. But you let everyone go anyway." Asgore smiled at his son and gently cupped him under his chin. "Asriel… I don't think I could possibly be prouder to have you as my son."

"D-dad…" Asriel couldn't look away from his father. He tried again to think up a counter to his argument, to explain exactly why he deserved to be punished for what he'd done as Flowey… but he couldn't. Not here, not now, and not with them. Not when he could _feel_ the warmth of his parents, and the love they still felt for him, despite knowing the truth. "...Thank you," Asriel said with a weak smile. Asgore leaned forward in response and gently kissed him on the head as well.

 _(you can stop the music now)_

Eventually the royal family climbed to their feet and seated themselves at the table. They talked of everything that had happened since Asriel disappeared, with Toriel telling of her time in the ruins and Asgore talking about the Royal Guard and the more normal aspects of life in the Underground. They enjoyed the rest of the snail pie as they talked, and for a few minutes as the moon began to rise outside, everything was fine.

Until Asriel realized something: there were four plates set on the table when he first entered the living room. The snail pie he'd found waiting for him had been cut evenly into eight pieces and set in the middle of the four plates, something Eltyr had planned. That meant that the fourth plate wasn't there on accident, so…

 _That's right little prince: you have a guest waiting for you just outside the front door._

Asriel blinked and looked back at his parents, whom were laughing at something funny that Toriel had just said. Apparently they hadn't been able to hear Eltyr's voice just now. Very slowly so as not to worry his parents, Asriel slipped down from his chair and quietly made his way towards the entry parlor. However, Asgore caught sight of his son leaving out of the corner of his eye, silently motioned to Toriel to follow him.

Asriel quietly turned the doorknob and stepped out onto the porch. The sun had set fully, and he was amazed by the sight of the night sky full of shining stars, and the crescent moon as well! He'd seen the sun when he took Chara's body through the barrier and traveled to her home village, but night on the surface was something altogether new for him.

However, he quickly realized that he wasn't alone and lowered his gaze to the path leading back to the greenhouse. His eyes widened: there, trying to hide behind a flower bush, was a human child. She looked to be about his age, and she was wearing a blue and red striped shirt. His heart began to beat faster as he slowly descended the porch steps: she was watching the windows of the house intently, but didn't seem to have noticed him yet. The cool night breeze ruffled her shoulder-length brown hair and caused her to shiver; considering he was covered in fur, Asriel wasn't surprised that she was cold. He crept just a little closer, trying to get a look at her eyes. In the precious dim light afforded by the moon and stars he couldn't quite make out what color they were: were they brown, or were they red?

The girl stiffened suddenly, which caused Asriel to freeze as well. "H-hello? Is somebody there?" Asriel felt himself relax just a little: it wasn't Chara's voice. In fact, he realized that there was only one person that voice could belong to.

Stepping into view slowly so as not to startle her, Asriel called out: "Frisk?"

The girl turned towards him, her eyes betraying her fear as she took a cautious step back. Asriel found himself smiling as he caught a better glimpse of her: he was right! "Frisk, it really is you!" He ran forward to hug her… only to stop when she took several steps back. Asriel blinked in surprise: she looked ready to bolt! "...Frisk? What's..?"

Her first words to him turned his world on its head. "W-who are you?"

Asriel could only gape in shock. _What? How… how does Frisk not know me?_

"Do not be afraid, my child." Frisk stiffened upon hearing Toriel's voice, something that Asriel picked up on and did not like in the least as he turned to see his mother slowly approaching from the porch, a look of patient concern on her face. "We mean you no harm. This is my son, Asriel Dreemurr. I-"

"No…" Toriel stopped even though Frisk's voice might as well have been a whisper. Turning back to her, Asriel was surprised to see that Frisk looked absolutely _terrified_ of his mother. The concern in Toriel's expression deepened, and she turned to shoot a confirmatory nod at Asgore, who was lurking just inside the doorway. Asgore nodded back and moved back inside, out of Frisk's field of vision.

"No… no please, it wasn't me… I didn't… **I don't hate you at all!** " Frisk squeezed her eyes shut and clutched the side of her head as if in pain, tears leaking from her eyes. "NO… NO PLEASE, **DON'T MAKE ME HURT THEM AGAIN!** Get away… please, _**just get away from me, I'm..!**_ "

Suddenly a ring of softly glowing fireballs appeared around Frisk, causing both her and Asriel to jump in surprise. "Mom?" Asriel stammered as his mother approached with her hands raised for a spell, her expression hidden by the shadows and her long ears. "Mom wait, it's Frisk! She's not the one who…"

The fireballs each began to cycle through a myriad of colors before the formation slowly started to spin around Frisk. Frisk watched with terrified eyes, sobbing softly until her eyes began to cloud up, and then her eyelids began to feel so heavy…

Asriel blinked as Frisk slumped to the ground, fast asleep as the ring of fireballs around her vanished. He was by her side in an instant, with his mother reaching them a moment later. Toriel gathered Frisk up in her arms with all of the tenderness and affection that she had shown for Asriel just minutes ago, her face downcast as she began to carry her towards Home.

"How bad is it?" Asgore asked as they entered, a knowing and grim look upon his face.

"Worse than I feared when I caught sight of her," Toriel answered quietly as she made for Asriel's room, her son mutely following behind. Upon entering the room behind his mother, Asriel found that it was exactly like the one he'd once shared with Chara, second bed and all. It was this bed that Toriel gently lay Frisk down upon, before tucking her in beneath the sheets and gently brushing a lock of hair out of her face. She wordlessly herded Asriel out and gently shut the door behind her, deep sorrow shining in her soft red eyes.

Asgore was quick to give Toriel a gentle hug when she and Asriel returned to the living room, a tear managing to escape her eye as Asriel looked on in confusion. "Mom… what's wrong with Frisk?"

Toriel seemed unable to speak, her tears intensifying as she shut her eyes and buried her face against Asgore's shoulder. After a heavy silence Asgore answered his son. "Asriel... the Frisk asleep in your room is not the same Frisk who helped you free everyone from the Underground. Like your mother and I, it's likely that Eltyr pulled her from a Genocide timeline."

Asriel took a step back as though he'd been struck; he felt cold. "Wh-what?"

 _I am sorry, little prince. But his majesty is correct._

"No…"

 _In Genocide timelines, Chara manages to possess Frisk, as you already know. Did… did you never wonder why Flowey doesn't remember any of those timelines?_

He felt ill. "It's… it's because she… Chara..?"

 _Yes. And this particular Frisk is different from the others. Her player's first "run" through what we all thought was a game was a Genocide run; in fact, he was one of the firsts. In those early days we all thought Undertale was just another RPG. But I was among the first to realize that it wasn't. However, this player made it all the way to the end of his Genocide run, disgusted as he was with the way things were turning out. He completed the play through only because he couldn't wait to reset and play a Pacifist route, eager to see the other side of the story. He didn't count on the fact that Chara would demand his SOUL in order to reset. As a player looking at a computer screen, this scared him witless and he immediately consulted the player community to find out what this meant. If a player accepts Chara's offer all future run-throughs will be tainted by Chara's influence, even Pacifist runs, and even after additional resets. When he learned of this, the player was disgusted and enraged, and he deleted the game files from his computer and vowed to never play again._

 _This Frisk was left abandoned, in the limbo between resets with Chara and the memories of the Genocide timeline tormenting her. I rescued her from there and excised Chara from her like a tumor, but the cost was her memory. I did my best to blot out her memory of the Genocide timeline, but it appears that not even I can destroy a memory: I can only attempt to suppress them._

"And she… she wouldn't know me anyway," Asriel concluded, a solitary tear escaping him. "Because her player never tried for the 'best' ending, so she never met me."

Asgore knelt down and scooped his son up so that he was embracing both Toriel and Asriel, a few tears of his own running down into his beard. "She needs our help, Asriel, Toriel. We need to help her heal from what Chara did to her."

Asriel nodded rapidly, struggling to suppress the rest of his tears. "O-of course. Even if she can't remember me… Frisk is still my friend." He smiled softly.

Toriel smiled at Asgore. "When Eltyr told me that Frisk was just a victim in all of this, I felt such sadness that I wouldn't be able to see the Frisk from my timeline again, if only so I could tell her 'I forgive you.' Now, it seems as though I'll be given a chance after all."

 _Five days. Do your best to help her hurts heal as much as possible in five days. After that… Events are even now being set into motion, events which began the moment I created this world and brought Asriel to it. There will be a trial for all of you, one that will decide whether this world continues to be… or fades into memory._

Asgore nodded gravely. "Leave it to us. We'll give this child the love that she needs, and we'll help her overcome the pain of that timeline." His face darkened for a moment. "I… I won't fail this time, not like I did with Chara."

" _We_ won't fail," Toriel corrected with a smile, surprising Asgore by giving him a tiny peck on the cheek that caused him to blush brightly.

Asriel couldn't help but giggle at his parent's antics as he glanced down the hallway at the room where Frisk was sleeping. "It'll be okay Frisk," he whispered softly. "This time… I'll be the one to save _you_."

.

.

.

 **To be continued**

 **.**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hope you guys are still enjoying the fanfic (and that you're not too mad at me for what happened with Frisk…)**

 **Do you guys like the music suggestions? Should I keep doing them, or are they distracting you guys from the story? Let me know in the comments or Private message me. Also, I have this plan for a future chapter for a little 'audience participation gimmick' that I have in mind involving you the readers and our favorite robot T.V. personality. Shoot me a private message to learn how you can help.**

Asriel: T.V. personality? Who are you talking about Eltyr?

 _Ohh YESS…_

 ***Gulp* Quick, Asriel! We need a bunch of sticks, Glamburgers, cowboy hats and..!**

Asriel: Wh-what are you talking about?! What's going on?!

San: make sure to leave reviews, and spread the word about this fanfic!

Papayrus: WHEN AM I, THE GREAT PAPAYRUS, GOING TO MAKE MY BIG ENTRANCE?

Undyne: NGAAAAAH It better not be before I do!

Mettaton EX: Send in those reviews, darlings! *winks*


	4. Chapter 4

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hope everyone has been enjoying all of the fluff these first few chapters, because it's time to get down to business. What ordeals do I have planned for the gang? Will Frisk ever be able to shake off the trauma of the Genocide timeline? And can she become friends with the others just like in the Pacifist timelines? Well, let's find out!**

 **Sweet Dreems Ch. 4: Rib-Tickling**

 _(Play Reunited)_

"...twenty nine, thirty! Ready or not, here I come!" Frisk giggled quietly and hunkered down even further into her hiding spot. She had picked a spot at the base of a tree that was covered on two sides by a few bushes, which afforded her good coverage as she watched Asriel back away from the stump they were using as home base and start looking for her.

It had been about four days since she came to Home, and Frisk still felt a twinge of guilt whenever she looked upon her caretakers. Toriel had been more than patient with her, sitting Frisk on her lap and reading her stories with Asriel at night, talking with her about the nightmares she sometimes had and the flashes of memory that disturbed her more than anything else. She hadn't really understood Toriel's explanations about other timelines; it seemed to Frisk that Toriel didn't fully understand it either. But the day she first woke up in the room she shared with Asriel, the first thing Toriel had done upon seeing her that morning was to kneel down and scoop her up in a warm hug. However, it was the words she'd whispered to Frisk that had lifted most of the weight from her heart: _"I forgive you, my child."_

Frisk frowned. Ever since Toriel had said that, she'd started to have other memories of Toriel as well: far more pleasant than the ones that plagued her nightmares. In those memories Frisk was living happily with Toriel and Asgore, and often there were other monsters that she felt like she should recognize. But what really made these memories strange- other than the fact that they didn't match up with what Frisk knew- was that Asriel wasn't in any of them.

The sound of leaves rustling nearby drew Frisk out of her thoughts, and with a tiny smile she tried squeeze down even closer to the ground as Asriel drew closer. Ever since Frisk's arrival, the two of them had practically been joined at the hip. They explored the small forest next to Home together, played together, and traded puns together with Toriel. They'd also go for rides on Asgore's shoulders: it was just like what Frisk imagined it'd be like to ride an elephant. Frisk felt at ease around the young Boss Monster: he acted like a big brother to her, always going out of his way to make sure that she was having fun. Unlike the rest of her hosts, Asriel was the only one who didn't cause Frisk to experience any flashes of horrifying memories. In fact, whenever she saw his smiling face she felt… some sort of feeling of triumph in her heart, as if she'd done something really, really good. She had no-idea where the feeling came from, but it made her smile.

"Well howdy, Frisk!" Frisk blinked in surprise and looked up into the eyes of her playmate, a whimsical smile on his face.

"Awwww, man!" Frisk pouted as she stood up straight. "I thought for sure I had you that time!" She dusted off the front of her pants as Asriel stepped up and lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

"Come on Frisk, you always beat me at tag, so fair's fair!" Indeed, even though Asriel and Frisk were about even in terms of running speed and stamina, Frisk was a slippery one when it came to avoiding being tagged. Asriel was about to suggest they play a different game when they both heard a familiar voice humming a tune nearby. Their expressions brightened. "Dad's home!" Asriel exclaimed, and the two of them went racing off to meet him.

"Daaad!" Asgore smiled and looked up from the path as his children came running up to meet him. As soon as they were close enough he expertly scooped them up and placed them on his shoulders without even breaking stride, the sound of their laughter music to his ears as they made their way towards Home.

"How are things going in Newest Home?" Asriel asked. He and Toriel had both groaned when Asgore returned from the monster settlement Eltyr had created a mile or two away and announced its name: his only defense had been that Eltyr himself gave it that name… but only to continue the naming convention that Asgore had started.

"Exciting, to say the least," Asgore replied. "Undyne and the rest of the Royal Guard came back from scouting that nearby human village earlier this morning. I was worried at first when Undyne volunteered to lead the scouting party herself, but the restraint she's shown is… surprising, to say the least. She says that the humans greeted them as if they were ordinary travelers."

Frisk blinked in amazement. "Wow, really? That's… you'd think _someone_ would have made a big deal out of seeing monsters for the first time!"

"Yeah," Asriel nodded. "It's almost like they were expecting us."

"That's what Undyne said," Asgore confirmed. "According to her, the humans of this 'Dawn Town' have an old prophecy that one day Mt. Ebott will shine like a beacon, and then friendly monsters will emerge from it. Well apparently, the day that Eltyr brought everyone here Mt. Ebott lit up like a Christmas tree, so the townsfolk must have figured we were the monsters from their prophecy."

Asriel thought quietly for a moment. "I bet Eltyr had something to do with it."

"He doesn't miss a trick," Asgore assented, "so I'd say you're right. Undyne mentioned there was one 'very odd thing' about the town though, but she wanted to tell me about it in person, so she'll be joining us for dinner tonight."

"Oh wow, cool!" Asriel exclaimed. Ever since his father had started to tell him stories of the young captain of the Royal Guard, Asriel thought she was the coolest person in the world (next to his parents and Frisk) and couldn't wait to meet her. Just then a beeping was heard coming from Asgore, causing him to pause as he reached into the folds of his robes and took out a fiery-red cell phone.

Flipping it open Asgore held the phone up to his ear. "Howdy! Ah, hey there Tori," he said, his expression brightening a little at whatever Toriel was saying on the other end as he continued walking. "Yup, I'm actually passing through the woods right now. Asriel and Frisk met up with me, so we'll be getting Home at the same time." A pause as Toriel replied. "Undyne? I'm not completely sure; she said she'd be along just before sundown, so I'd say we've got at least an hour. Plenty of time to put some tea on, I think." Asgore smiled. "Of course. We'll see you soon, Tori." Asgore hung up and tucked the cell phone away. "That was your mother; she says that dinner should be ready by the time our guest arrives."

 _(You can stop the music)_

A low rumbling overhead made the trio glance up at the sky through the gaps in the tree line. Several grey clouds were hanging low overhead, and there were more on the horizon. "Hmmm, looks like we might be in for a little rain." Asgore smiled a little. "Golly, rain… that's something we never had to worry about in the Underground."

"It's not too bad sometimes," Frisk said with a shrug. "Sometimes if it's warm enough outside and it doesn't rain too hard, it's kinda fun to… ah!" Asriel glanced at her with a look of concern as she seemed to realize something. "Oh no, the rain might ruin them!" It then occurred to Frisk that Asriel and Asgore were giving her odd looks, and with a blush she sheepishly explained. "I've… been working on a present for the three of you," she laughed nervously. "I wanted it to be a surprise, but it might get ruined if it gets rained on."

Asgore smiled and nodded in understanding. "Where did you leave your present? You can bring it inside and leave it in one of the drawers of your dresser until the rain stops: we promise not to peek, right Asriel?"

"Right!' Asriel nodded. "Sorry that it won't be quite as much of a surprise now that we know there's one coming… but we won't tell mom!" he added.

Frisk smiled. "Thanks. Umm, can you set me down?" she asked Asgore as Home came into view. "I hid it in a hollow tree just a little way from where Asriel and I play tag. I'll come inside right away so I don't get rained on, I promise!"

Asgore nodded and carefully set both Frisk and Asriel back down. Frisk immediately took off for her hiding spot while Asriel called out, "Be careful, Frisk!" Frisk smiled and gave her foster brother and father a quick wave in response. Dashing past the clearing where she played tag with Asriel, Frisk quickly located the hollow tree and rooted around within its trunk. The sky above rumbled again and the wind began to pick up as more dark clouds began to gather. Finally Frisk found what she was looking for: a small wooden case big enough to hold a dinner plate or two. Frisk pulled it out and clutched it to her chest with a smile.

"I'm sure the rain won't get through the wood, but better safe than sorry, right?" She began to move away from the tree and towards Home…

 _(Play Premonition)_

Only to freeze as she felt a sudden, unsettling sensation along her back. Frisk's heart began to race and she couldn't seem to move. This felt similar to her nightmares… but more… _personal_ somehow, more directed towards her. She was close to hyperventilating when someone spoke.

" _human… don't you know how to greet an old friend? turn around… and shake my hand."_ Somewhere in the back of Frisk's mind, she thought she heard a voice accusingly add: _**dirty brother killer**_. Nearly shaking, Frisk slowly turned around. There was a figure standing before her just within the shadows, their hand outstretched. The really chilling part was that they had this glowing, light blue eye trained on Frisk, and somehow it seemed to be the source of the feeling that clung specifically to her back. She wanted to scream for help, to call Toriel or Asgore. Instead she found herself silently reaching out with her free hand and tak-

 **PBBHHHHFFFTT..!**

 _(Play sans, panic's over)_

"hehehe, that _never_ gets old." Frisk blinked owlishly, all of her terror and discomfort completely forgotten. Shaking hands with her was a skeleton, his eye sockets glowing with two tiny white lights and upturned in amusement. He was about Frisk's size and wore a light-blue fur-lined hoodie, a white shirt, black shorts with a white line going down the sides and… _fuzzy slippers?_

"hey c'mon kid, you're supposed to laugh!" The skeleton opened his hand to reveal a whoopie cushion.

Frisk blinked and took a cautious step back. "Uh, u-um, mom told me not to talk to strangers…" she mumbled, unable to meet the skeleton's gaze. The skeleton raised an eye socket at her for a moment before smiling.

"i'm sans, sans the skeleton. there we go, you know my name, so I'm not a stranger. problem solved." He frowned when Frisk remained silent. "hey c'mon kid, you're making me feel bad here. i'm with Undyne: she sent me on ahead to tell ol' king fluffy buns that she'd be a little late to dinner tonight." When Frisk still remained mute, he let out a sigh.

"gee, looks like we're in for some nasty weather," sans idly commented. "what's your opinion on rain, kid?" Still nothing from Frisk, but sans rolled right along, a mischievous grin coming to his face as he stated, "i really don't care for it. personally, I find it… _umbrella-ble_."

 _(_ _ **BADUM-**_ _PAHH! ^^)_

...Frisk couldn't help the snort she let out, or the giggles that followed. sans smiled, relieved that he'd finally broken the tension.

"M-my name's Frisk," Frisk managed once she'd stopped laughing, still a little nervous but willing to give sans the benefit of a doubt. "Frisk Dreemurr." The sky rumbled ominously, much louder than before. Frisk looked up nervously. "We should probably get to Home before it starts coming down."

sans nodded. "lead the way ki- I mean, Frisk." Frisk smiled and lead sans past the tagging grounds towards Home, her nervousness evaporating as they reached the porch. Her initial reaction aside, Frisk thought sans seemed kind of nice: he had a sort of laid-back air about him, and the way he'd joked so effortlessly put her in mind of Toriel. Strange… she felt like she'd known him for a _very_ long time all of a sudden, but why? The feeling was gone almost as quickly as it had come.

"Frisk?" She looked up to see Toriel just stepping out of the front door, a little concern in her eyes as she looked into the distance. She soon noticed Frisk standing before the porch and smiled, only to frown in puzzlement at the sight of sans behind her. "Oh, greetings, I am Toriel. Is this a friend of yours Frisk?"

Frisk found herself wanting to say _yes_ , but sans was the one who answered. "i'm sans, Undyne sent me on ahead to let you know that she'd be a little late to dinner. something about one of the royal guardsmen being involved in a… petting accident?"

Toriel and Frisk both blinked in confusion at sans' last statement, but Toriel was quick to recover and gave him a welcoming smile. "I see. Well there's plenty of food, so why don't you come in and join us for dinner?"

"thanks," sans replied. "think I'll do just that." With that he and Frisk entered the warm house, and just in time too, for the rain that had been threatening finally began to fall in soft but steady drops. After removing her shoes and setting them in the shoe-rack next to the front door Frisk immediately made a bee-line for the room she shared with Asriel, smiling as she clutched her box to her chest protectively.

That was when Asriel came up from the basement below, which had been unbarred two days ago. "Hey mom, did Frisk come back yet or..?" Asriel suddenly felt something cold move down his back. _Huh? What's..?_

 _(_ _ **sans, bugger off!**_ _)_

Despite not having any skin sans began to sweat nervously and moved his gaze to the space just to the right of Asriel. "hey there kid, names sans. sans the skeleton."

Asriel blinked and shook his head clear of the odd feeling he'd just gotten, focusing on the visitor, who he recognized with a grin. "Howdy! I'm Asriel Dreemurr, nice to meet you!" He extended his hand to sans, who shoo-

 **PPBBHHFFFFFTT!**

 _(_ Again? _)_

Asriel blinked in surprise. Toriel had a tiny smile on her face and was trying not to laugh at her son's expense. Asriel's lip trembled for a moment before he snorted with laughter.

"Hahaha! Ahhh, you got me!"

"hehehe, sorry, couldn't resist."

Frisk peeked out from her bedroom at the sound of Asriel's laughter, smiling at the fact that sans had gotten him with the same trick he'd used on her. Asgore emerged a moment later from the room he shared with Toriel (though they slept in separate beds… for the moment) to see what all the commotion was, now dressed in a much more… casual outfit of a Hawaiian flower shirt and shorts. Before long Toriel announced that dinner was ready, and she brought out a snail quiche that she'd made for everyone to snack on as an entree since it would be rude to eat the main course (roasted chicken with snail sauce) without waiting for Undyne. The group happily chatted away around the dinner table while they waited for Undyne to arrive and ate Toriel's delightful cooking. Toriel quickly took a liking to sans, and before long the puns were flying like snowballs in a neighborhood-wide snowball fight. Asriel Frisk and Asgore contented themselves with chatting about Newest Home and how it somehow had climate biomes for every type of monster that had lived in the Underground, all while laughing at the pun war between Toriel and sans.

 _(Stop the music)_

Eventually though Toriel noticed the time and grew worried. "I hope that Undyne turned back when she saw the weather taking a turn for the worse: I'd hate to think of her trudging through the dark when it's coming down as hard as it is."

"Oh I wouldn't worry about her," Asgore said with a knowing smile. "She's built for weather like this."

Toriel frowned. "Still, it's getting late. Is it possible she could have gotten lost in the dark?" All further conversation was halted as the sound of loud clanking became audible, steadily drawing closer to the house. Asriel and Frisk both gulped nervously as the menacing sound grew louder and louder as the one making the noise got closer. Toriel absently moved a bit closer to Frisk and Asriel, subconsciously getting ready to protect her children if the need arose.

Asgore just smiled and stood up from his seat. "I'll bet that's her right now. Golly, I didn't think she'd wear her armor when she came over."

Asriel and Frisk both brightened up upon learning it was Undyne approaching and not someone to worry about. "Alright, we finally get to meet Undyne!" Asriel cheered as he leapt up from the table. "C'mon Frisk, let's go greet her!"

"Sure, wait for me!" Frisk called as she got out of her seat and chased after him, Asgore following right behind them. Asriel grunted as he pulled the front door open, he and Frisk passing through to stand out on the porch. In the light cast by the porch lights they could clearly see someone who must have been Undyne. As Asgore had thought, she was indeed garbed in tough-looking black armor that must have weighed quite a lot. Her head was uncovered though and revealed that she was a fish-woman of sorts, her body covered in deep blue scales. Her deep red hair was tied back in a single long ponytail that trailed over her shoulder like the plumage of a knight's helmet. Frisk was interested to note the eyepatch covering her left eye, and idly wondered what had happened to cause her to wear it.

"Hi miss Undyne!" Asriel called out cheerfully. "Welcome to Home! I'm Asriel, and this is Frisk! We're glad you were able to make it even in this rain!"

Undyne smiled brightly, her heart leaping as she saw that the rumors were true: by some great miracle prince Asriel really was alive and well. "Hello prince Asriel!" Undyne proudly replied. "It's an honor to meet-" She froze. Next to the prince was..! A twinge of… _something_ shot through the remnants of her left eye, and her blood boiled white hot.

" **YOU!"**

.

.

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

 **.**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: Oh, snap! Just when you guys thought they were in the clear with sans! Does Undyne remember what happened during her timeline? What will this mean for Frisk? What is this 'very odd thing' that Undyne needs to tell Asgore about?**

sans: why are you asking them all of these questions?

 **I'm building anticipation here sans, it's what you do with cliffhangers like this. Anyways, leave a review to let me know how I'm doing with the story, and tell your Undertale friends about the fic (but don't spoil anyone who hasn't played/watched a walkthrough yet!), and stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Work keeps me busy: I have two and a half jobs, what can I say? Frankly I'm amazed at how quickly I've been able to update, but don't expect for this pace to continue or be consistent. Don't worry though: I am 120% committed to this project. I'll do what I can to work on it in my spare time, but keep in mind that said spare time is not always in great supply.**

 **Lastly… I take absolutely no pleasure at all in writing the last part of this chapter. You'll see what I mean...**

 **Ch. 5: Tower**

 **"YOU!"**

 _(play Undyne)_

Frisk blinked in surprise, and in the time it took her to do so, _several_ things happened at speeds too great for her to follow. The end result was that Asgore was now in front of her and Asriel, his magical trident held out to the side while he stood in a ready-stance. In the ground a few feet to the right of Asgore's trident a spear made of glowing blue magic was now embedded in the ground. Asriel and Frisk couldn't see this because Asgore was facing away from them, but his face now held a rarely seen stern expression as he stared Undyne down.

"King Asg-"

"Put the spear _down,_ Undyne," Asgore said quietly. Asriel and Frisk both blinked at the steel in his voice. They were used to both the sight of their dad in full cape and armor and the sight of him in his floral shirt, and were well aware of his 'king fluffybuns' nickname. But the way he held himself now, the way he spoke that left no doubt that his statement to Undyne was very much a command, it really drove home the fact that he was the king of monster kind for a reason.

Undyne gritted her teeth and reluctantly lowered her spear, though she did not relinquish her grip on it and shot a quick glance in Asriel's direction. "My king, that… _human_ …"

"Is not who you think she is," Asgore stated firmly. "I know she looks a lot like the human who fell into the Underground and attacked many monsters, but believe me when I say that _she is not the one you fought._ Now please, put down your spear and I can explain everything."

Undyne hesitated, torn between obeying her king and protecting both him and the prince from… wait. Undyne squinted her eye at the human who was nervously standing huddled with prince Asriel behind Asgore. The child's eyes held genuine fear; a stark contrast with the memory of the way her eyes had looked _that time._ There was something else as well…

' _FRISK! ANIME IS REAL, RIGHT?!_ _ **PLEASE**_ _TELL ME THAT ANIME IS REAL!'_

Undyne blinked. Where did _that_ come from? Undyne sighed in defeat and dismissed her spear. "As you wish your majesty. Please forgive me for my blunder." She knelt down on one knee apologetically.

 _(Switch to Dating Start)_

Asgore smiled and dismissed his trident as well. "Oh that's alright Undyne, I'm sure you've had a busy day after all. Now why don't we head inside and have that dinner Toriel spent so long cooking? Oh, um, you might want to leave your boots and armor on the porch: Tori would have a fit if you tracked mud in."

Undyne nodded mutely and rose to her feet as Asgore turned and ushered the children inside. She saw the human give her one last backwards glance, but it was hard to tell if she looked nervous, guilty or… nostalgic? _What on earth is going on here?_ Undyne wondered as she carefully stripped off her armor and set it in a neat stack on the front porch. _That human looks_ _ **exactly**_ _like the one that killed me… wait,_ _ **that killed me!?**_ Undyne halted in the act of undoing a strap that held her chest plate in place. _Why do I remember a human falling into the Underground and killing everyone, myself included? I mean, I'm standing here right now and I'm_ definitely _not dead! So why do I remember fighting that human and losing?_ Undyne grunted as a brief stinging sensation shot through her ruined left eye.

"Nghhhhh, stupid old wound's acting up again. I'd better have Alphys examine it one more time.

Dinner was… awkward, for the most part. The human- Frisk, Undyne learned her name was- chose the seat furthest away from Undyne and closest to Toriel unsurprisingly. Toriel kept alternating between joking with sans and closely watching Undyne for any sign of hostility, and Asgore just smiled and chatted with everyone like nothing was wrong.

However, little prince Asriel took this opportunity to bombard Undyne with questions about what it was like to be in the royal guard, and why did she join? And what did the guard used to do when not patrolling for humans? And why were so many of the guardsmen dogs? And why…?

For her part, Undyne just did her best to smile and deal with the avalanche of questions put to her by the prince, his enthusiasm almost overwhelming. She soon found herself growing fond of the young Boss Monster and began to tell him some of the stories about her time as a royal guardsman when asked. Eventually the awkwardness and tension left the happy Home, and Frisk even grew brave enough to ask her own questions, which Undyne answered as politely as possible (which had _nothing_ to do with the fact that queen Toriel was watching her out of the corner of her eye).

Finally the delicious dinner was over, the chicken and quiche having stood no chance against the overwhelming assault of those seated at the table. The yawning children were shepherded off by Toriel to brush their teeth and go to bed (accompanied by many protests as the children wanted to hear more of Undyne's exploits), and Asgore insisted that Undyne spend the night in one of the guest bedrooms situated in the basement. Out of courtesy to the royal family, Undyne found herself unable to refuse.

Upon descending to the basement Undyne was impressed with what she found. The stairs opened out into a wide area that had a large comfortable couch against the far north wall, and embedded in the west wall next to it was a home entertainment system and a large plasma screen T.V. To the right of the couch there was another cleared space that had a pool table set up in the middle, and east wall contained a doorway leading to two bedrooms, one small one large, and a bathroom. Across from the pool table was a small alcove that contained a miniature kitchen with a sink, microwave and mini-fridge, as well as a pantry. It was a space that was clearly meant for entertaining guests during an extended stay.

"Wow… um, this is a pretty cool set-up!" Undyne finally managed as Asgore and sans descended after her.

"The person who re-furbished Home for us said it was based off of the way one of his relatives had done their own basement," Asgore explained as he carefully sat down on the couch, which supported his weight with ease despite his size. His expression went from carefree to serious. "Alright, now that we have some privacy we can talk about more serious things."

 _(Play Waterfall)_

Undyne frowned and leaned against the south wall. "Right. For starters… how'd we get here? The last thing I remember is being killed by… someone who looks like Frisk," she carefully began. "The next thing I know I'm with everyone in a brand-new version of Home, squinting to keep the sun from blinding me."

Asgore sighed. "That's a very long and complicated story, but I'll explain the best I can." Asgore spent the next hour or so telling Undyne and sans about Eltyr, his desire to save Asriel, and how Frisk and Chara were involved. He deliberately left out the part about Asriel being Flowey, saying only that Eltyr had used his determination and imagination to bring Asriel back and transport everyone to the surface once Frisk and Asriel broke the barrier.

"Wow…" Undyne muttered. For a few moments, the only sound in the room was an occasional _CLACK!_ As sans played a solo-game of pool. "So Frisk is innocent because Chara was possessing her, and now she doesn't remember what happened?"

"she seems to remember _some_ things," sans spoke up. "she had this look when i met her in the woods, like i was her worst nightmare in another life… but also that i was her best friend in _another_ life."

Asgore frowned. "Really? Tori and I sometimes see her get a look when she sees us that we've taken to mean that she's experiencing a bad memory, but… now that you mention it, sometimes she gives us a very different look, like she's remembering something really good. I wonder why?"

Undyne frowned. "Well the good looks aside, it sounds to me like the kid's better off not remembering what happened when Chara had control of her…" Her face darkened in remembrance of those eyes filled with the overwhelming desire to kill. "But that brings up another weird thing I've noticed: _I_ remember the moment when Chara was about to kill me, before Eltyr stepped in. But other than me, _no-one else remembers._ " She turned so that she was facing both sans and Asgore. "I uh, know this is a rotten question to ask and all but… Nghhhhh, I'm just gonna say it! Do either of you remember Chara trying to kill you?"

Asgore nodded slowly. "I remember being in my garden back in New Home, turning around and catching sight of her covered in dust. The next thing I knew I was on the surface, with Eltyr filling me in on what was happening."

"...i remember Chara trying to spare me when we fought," sans spoke up, his expression unreadable as he stared at the pool table. "but i could tell that she only did it because she was curious… i guess i could tell what the 'player' backing her was thinking, so i forced them to load."

Another moment of silence. "Tori… she says that in her timeline, Chara tricked her into thinking she was sparing her, and then…" Asgore clenched his hands into fists, his expression pained. "She remembers that…and sometimes she has nightmares about that moment." He took a deep breath to compose himself and faced Undyne with a puzzled expression. "So no-one else remembers that Chara was about to kill them?"

"No-one," Undyne confirmed. "I talked to the other guardsmen, the sentries, everyone. Other than the four of us, no-one seems to remember the… what'd Eltyr call them? 'Genocide' timelines?"

Asgore hummed thoughtfully. "Strange… I wonder why it is that we remember but no-one else does?"

sans glanced up at the ceiling as if all of the answers would somehow reveal themselves to him if he looked long enough.

 _(Bugger off, lazybones; that answer doesn't come on a silver-platter)_

sans sighed dejectedly. "well i don't think we're gonna figure it out tonight."

Undyne nodded. "Yeah…" She shifted on her feet for a moment before turning to address Asgore. "I… I really messed up when I attacked Frisk, huh?" She bowed her head sadly. "When I saw her next to the prince, my first thought was: 'how'd that thing get here? I've got to get her away from the prince before she stabs him in the back!'" She let out a small 'heh.' "I just reacted; I didn't take any time to think the situation through…"

"You did your duty as the captain of the royal guard," Asgore stated proudly, causing Undyne to blink in surprise. "Sure, you happened to be wrong about Frisk, but other than that your instincts were in the right place: you saw what you thought was a threat to Asriel, so you tried to protect him." He offered Undyne a warm smile. "That's the kind of thing that you should be proud of as the head of the royal guard."

"Your majesty…" Undyne allowed herself a tiny smile. "...thanks." Undyne crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall. "Soooo… guess this means the royal guard's gonna have twice as much work now, since we'll be watching out for Asriel _and_ Frisk, huh?"

"I wouldn't worry too much," Asgore smiled. "I know you're all working hard and that you're up to the task."

After a moment sans decided to speak up. "so Undyne, what was that 'really odd thing' you had to tell the king about?"

Undyne's expression went straight back to serious and businesslike in an instant. "Right. Well, that human village, Dawn Town? In the very center of town there's this huge space where it's nothing but bare brickwork: no buildings, no alleys, no structures at all. And when I say it's huge, I mean it's _huge;_ Alphys said it must have been about one hundred yards in diameter, and it's all just empty!"

 _(play It's Raining Somewhere Else)_

"Empty?" Asgore repeated. "There's just a stretch of empty space in the middle of town?"

"In the shape of a circle," Undyne hastily added. "We asked the townsfolk about it, and they told us that it was where the tower stood."

"tower?" sans asked. "what tower?"

"That's exactly what I said," Undyne nodded. "So naturally I went to take a look. And when I got to being just a few feet away from it, it was like someone pulled away a giant curtain and there was a freaking huge tower just sitting there in the middle of town! I've never seen anything so big; it was even bigger than the CORE back in the Underground!"

"An invisible tower?" Asgore confirmed. "One that you can't see unless you're right next to it?"

"Yeah!" Undyne nodded enthusiastically. "Frankly… it's pretty darn awesome," she smirked happily. "The townsfolk say that it's called the 'Tower of Dreaming Moons.' There's supposed to be a whole bunch of legends about it, like that it changes its appearance and sometimes vanishes for years on end: not invisible, but actually _gone._ The mayor says that there's this old guy… some 'Wiseman' that lives near the base of the tower who's an expert on it. All we really know for now is that it's only invisible by day- it shows up no problem once the sun goes down- and that it's giving off a _ton_ of magical energy, like it's made out of magic."

Asgore and sans were silent as they took in all of the new information. "Golly, that really is something," Asgore said at last.

"so the townsfolk act like it's no big deal, right?" sans inquired, getting a confirmatory nod from Undyne. "in that case, i bet it's been there for a really, really long time. but if it's made of magic… does that mean that we made it before the war with the humans?"

"How should I know?" Undyne huffed. "Alphys is going nuts over it though: she's set-up a field lab near the tower's base and is looking into finding and talking to this 'Wiseman' character so she can learn more about it. The rest of the townsfolk don't seem to know much about it, they just have these stories like it brings good dreams or something. Oh, and something about it having the power to heal the hearts of great heroes."

Asgore went quiet for a moment as a few choice thoughts drifted through his head. "Whatever this tower is, it sounds as though the townspeople think it has some sort of benevolent purpose. It's possible that Eltyr put it there long ago, but even if I'm right that doesn't tell us what the tower is for, or why it's important."

"You think Eltyr created it?" Undyne asked.

"well, we happen to find ourselves on the surface in a home already conveniently built for monster kind," sans spoke up. "and then we find that the human neighbors are friendly towards monsters and happen to have a magic tower in the middle of their town." sans glanced over at Undyne. "nothing is ever _that_ convenient unless someone had a hand in making it all work out that way."

Undyne frowned. "So we think Eltyr has something in mind with the tower… but what?"

 _(play Premonition)_

Asriel carefully closed the door to the basement, taking care not to make any noise as he softly padded back up the stairs in his pajamas. He knew he'd be in trouble if his mother or anyone else caught him out of bed, but based on what he'd heard it had been worth his while to eavesdrop.

 _A tower,_ he thought to himself as he quietly slipped back into his and Frisk's bedroom, the sight of Frisk sleeping on without a care in the world a balm upon his soul. _One that can heal the hearts of great heroes…_ He snuggled under the covers of his bed and lay there awhile, staring up at the ceiling and listening to the sound of Frisk softly breathing. In one corner of the room a planetarium lamp projected a sky full of stars onto the ceiling, providing a soft illumination. Asriel turned his head and glanced over at Frisk. Her face was peaceful now, but more than once he'd woken up to the sound of her screaming from a nightmare of her time under Chara's thumb.

 _Chara…_ Asriel clenched his sheets in his hands tightly, his expression pained. _Why? I thought we were friends, siblings even. How… how can you hate people so much that you'd hurt me, mom, dad, everyone just to make humans suffer?_ These thoughts and more whirled about his head as he sound of Frisk breathing slowly lulled him to sleep…

 _(stop the music)_

 _Asriel stared at his surroundings in confusion: everything was dark all around him. A single solitary light shone down on him from above, illuminating a bed of grass but little else._

" _Hello?" Asriel called out into the distance. "Is anyone there?"_

" _Sure there is!" Asriel's blood turned to ice._

 _(play Your Best Friend)_

" _After all,_ _ **I'm**_ _always here!" Asriel turned around slowly, his eyes wide with horror. "Howdy! I'm Flowey, Flowey the flower!"_

 _Asriel felt cold sweat run down his back. "N-n-no, that's not possible! You can't be here! I'm not… I'm not..!"_

" _Not me?" Flowey asked sarcastically, a snide sneer on his face. "Don't be silly!_ _ **Of course you're me!**_ _" His face turned into the likeness of a skull. "_ _ **There's a part of you that will ALWAYS be me, Flowey the flower!**_ _What, did you think getting your SOUL back would be the end of it?"_

 _(play You Idiot)_

" _There's no forgetting what_ we _did!" Flowey giggled cruelly. "_ _ **We killed mommy.**_ _" His face morphed into Toriel's, her eyes weeping blood. Asriel whimpered and shut his eyes tightly as tears escaped them, hands clamped over his ears in a vain attempt to block out the voices. "_ _ **And daddy!**_ _" Flowey's face morphed into Asgore's, his beard matted with blood. "_ _ **We killed**_ **everyone!** _ **And we did it again, and again, and again..!**_ _"_

 _._

 _"I… I'm so sorry…" Asgore sobbed without restraint as six figures loomed over him, their eyes sightless and leaking red tears. There was the girl with the light blue ribbon and a toy knife, the girl with ballerina slippers and a tutu, the young chef, the martial artist, the bespectacled boy with his torn notebook, and the boy in the cowboy hat._

 _"You did this…" A voice accused._

 _"You killed us…"_

 _"We just wanted to go home…"_

 _"You were going to attack the surface…."_

 _ **"It's YOUR FAULT!"**_

 _._

 _"WHAT IS THIS WEIRD PLACE? WHY IS THERE ANOTHER OF ME STANDING OVER THERE? H-HEY YOU! IF YOU THINK THAT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM SOMEONE WHO CAN BE IMITATED, THEN YOU ARE..!"_

 _Papyrus watched in stupefaction as the other Papyrus offered a friendly hug to a lost looking human girl, her hands covered in dust. The other Papyrus couldn't see the knife she was hiding behind her back. Afterwards Papyrus watched as sans walked up to the pile of ash that had once been his brother, tears leaking from his eye sockets as he fell to his knees and clutched Papyrus' scarf in trembling hands._

 _"I DON'T GET IT… WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON HERE?! UNDYNE SAID THAT THE HUMANS ARE FRIENDLY AND DON'T WANT TO FIGHT US ANYMORE… HEY SANS! THAT ISN'T REALLY ME, I'M RIGHT HERE! SANS! SANS, I'M OVER HERE! HEY! THIS REALLY ISN'T FUNNY, SANS!"_

 _._

 _Toriel backed away until her back met the door leading out of the Ruins, wanting to tear her eyes away from the sight in front of her but unable to look away. "I tried… please believe me, I tried!"_

 _"You didn't come after us though," one child hissed._

 _"Once we left the Ruins we weren't your responsibility anymore."_

 _"That's not true!" Toriel protested with tears in her eyes. "I never stopped worrying about you… any of you!"_

 _ **"You could have stopped him! You could have done**_ **something!** _ **But you didn't do anything! You didn't save us!"**_

 _"P-please…" Toriel whimpered, trying to shut her eyes but not quite succeeding as they got closer. "Please, I..!"_

 _"...mommy..?" Toriel's eyes were wide open at once: she knew that voice. There in the middle of the children was a tiny, wilting yellow flower._

 _"...mommy… daddy? Where are you..? I can't… feel anything…"_

 _._

 _"When can I see my mom?" "You promised us we could visit our parents!" "Why are you ignoring our letters? I've written to you once a week for months now!"_

 _"P-p-p-please…" Alphys whimpered, eyes shut tight and arms wrapped protectively around her head as she cowered in the secret elevator in her lab. "P-p-please just go away!"_

 _"Hmph, you disgust me!" Alphys' head snapped up, wide-eyed as she found herself face to face with a sneering Undyne. "You're such a coward! You can't even own up to your own mistakes, or face people with the truth that you're nothing but a fraud!"_

 _Alphys sobbed without restraint, her heart tearing in half…_

 _"LEt uS LeaVE…" Alphys gasped as white goo began to pool around her ankles, rising out of the elevator floor. Amorphous appendages rose to form faces of pain, horror and anger. "YoU DId THIs tO uSSS…."_

 _._

 _Undyne narrowed her eye in concentration: it was here somewhere… she could_ _ **feel**_ _it somehow…_

 _A chill ran down her back and she spun on her heel, her eye widening at the sight of Alphys, that kid, Papyrus… they were all bleeding!_

 _Swallowing back the lump in her throat, Undyne screamed and hurled a spear of magic at them. The figures dissolved into a mass of shadowy forms with red eyes just as the spear impacted, scattering the shadows but not destroying them._

 _(play Finale)_

 _"Your tricks don't fool me, punk!" Undyne shouted as she readied another spear. Beneath her eyepatch a faint yellow glow was starting to build. Undyne gritted her teeth as another set of images appeared: this time it was the royal family, all smiling… except Frisk had a knife hidden behind her back and was looking at prince Asriel with eyes that…_

 _Undyne rapidly put a spear through everyone but Frisk, and like the others they turned into shadows and scattered. 'Frisk' turned to smile at Undyne, her expression unsettling._

 _"So it's you," Undyne growled, unaware that her form was shifting, unique armor with heart patterns materializing around her as 'Frisk' frowned and took a step back. Stray rays of yellow light could be seen leaking from Undyne's eye-patch, but Undyne herself was unaware of this. "I knew it was too good to be true to hope that Eltyr took care of you just like that! Whatever you're up to,_ _ **I'm ending it now! NGAAAAAAAHHH!**_ _"_

 _._

 _sans expertly ducked and unloaded eight simultaneous gaster blasters on the fakes, his left eye blazing a dangerous light blue._

 _"heh, you know i'm not gonna let you hit me- ever. keep 'dreaming.'"_

 _A fake Papyrus appeared and started to accuse him of letting Chara kill him… sans tuned it out as he blasted him and impaled a fake Undyne with bones as she tried to get him from behind. sans suddenly spun to the right and thrust his palm out, turning her SOUL blue and causing her to levitate off the ground by the collar of her shirt, ignoring her attempts to struggle as he repeatedly slammed her on the ground, walls and ceiling over and over again._

 _Something large shimmered into existence in the far distance behind him, and he carefully glanced over to see what it was._

 _"huh, so that's what's going on. looks like we had it pegged." Great gouts of flames roared towards sans, created by a fake version of the royal couple. sans simply blinked… and the flames had missed him. "i bet i'm not the only one having a 'bad time' right now…" sans muttered as she unsteadily rose to her feet, her unsettling smile replaced by an angry scowl as sans summoned a wall of gaster blasters._

 _._

 _Frisk could only sob as she was forced to watch herself kill them over and over again, her body curled tightly into a ball as her tears fell. Voices kept whispering at her, accusing her of killing them, torturing them. Voices she recognized, and many more that she felt she should recognize as well._

" _Why did you have to happen to me?!" Frisk flinched: of all of the voices,_ **hers** _was not one she'd expected to hear… or hoped to hear ever again. "You're a jinx! You've ruined everything for me just by being born! I even tried to get rid of you, but you were like a cockroach I couldn't squish! It's all your fault no-man will marry me!_ _ **You should just disappear!**_ _"_

 _Frisk couldn't close her eyes no matter how hard she tried, nor could she block out the voices. She struggled and struggled, but nothing happened. So she did the only thing that made sense:_

" _HEEEELLLP! MOMMY, DADDY, ASRIEL, HEEEEEELP!"_

 **That's enough! THIS. ENDS. NOW!**

 _Frisk blinked as a man suddenly appeared before her, garbed in a simple black pea coat, a blue shirt and jeans, and brown shoes meant for hiking. He was a young adult human, maybe 20 or so with short dirty blond hair. He was facing away from her, shooting a defiant and scathing glare into the darkness with his deep blue eyes. The man snapped his fingers…._

 _And suddenly the scene changed. Now they were in an endless field containing every single flower in the world, a beautiful starry sky shining down upon them. The beautiful veil of an aurora wove subtle shades and hues of blue, purple and red all across the sky._

 _I turned to face Frisk with a small sad smile on my face, the silver cross hanging around my neck swaying with my motion as I knelt down to her. "It's okay Frisk. The Nightmares can't get to you here."_

 _She hiccupped a few times as I gently rubbed her back. "W-who are you?"_

" _That's right; I haven't spoken to you since after I brought you here." I let my smile grow a little fuller as I sat next to her. "I'm the one who saved you from Chara: my name is Eltyr."_

 _._

 _By then thorny vines had begun to wrap around Asriel's sobbing form, lifting him up into the air in a crucifixion pose. Flowey laughed and laughed without restraint, his form morphing into something grotesque and massive._

 _"Go ahead! Scream for help!_ _ **Someone like us doesn't deserve a 'happy ending;' you know it, and so do I!**_ _"_

 _Asriel hiccupped. "M-mom...dad… Frisk… h-h-help…"_

 _New vines began to twine around Asriel's form…. but these were devoid of thorns and had beautiful flowers of all sorts of colors growing along them. The flowers flashed once, and Flowey's vines shriveled up before crumbling into dust, letting Asriel sag back into the gentle embrace of the flowered vines._

 _Flowey and Asriel both blinked in confusion. "...huh?" Flowey managed, right before some of the flowers erupted in a shower of petals. Each petal swarmed around Flowey, and his form began to grow transparent._

 _"Wh-what?! What's going on here?! S-she said… no-one should be able to... NO!" With one final scream of despair Flowey vanished, leaving Asriel hanging in a beautiful clearing of trees, the night sky twinkling up above._

 _(play Memory)_

 _The vines carefully set Asriel down on his feet, one of them even moving close to brush a tear from his eye using one of its flowers. The petals were extremely soft and gave off a soothing sweet-citrus scent._

 _"Are you okay, Asriel?" Asriel blinked at the unfamiliar voice and turned around to face the speaker. Sitting on a tree stump was a monster girl about his age. She was a lizard of some sort, her body covered in lime green scales. She wore a small black tank top and black shorts, which had a tiny opening for her tail. Speaking of, her tail had a tuft of leaf green fur coming from the tip, almost like a feather duster. Her hair was a shade of green so dark it could have been black, and her bright green eyes seemed to hold some sort of inner light. Curiously, she had tiny, light brown deer antlers growing from her head. She was smiling warmly at Asriel, and something about her put the young prince at ease._

 _"W-who are you?" Asriel asked, his tears drying up as the peaceful atmosphere of the garden washed over him and soothed the terror he had just endured._

 _The girl's smile faded a little. "That's right, you aren't able to remember me yet. And once I leave this place, I'll forget as well." She stood up from her perch and walked over to the confused prince, halting when she was just a foot away from him. "Right now, the guardian of this world is helping your friends and families with their Nightmares too, but it isn't a permanent solution. To make the Nightmares end,_ _ **you have to reach the top of the Tower of Dreaming Moons.**_ _It's the only way to heal everyone's hearts."_

 _Asriel frowned in confusion. "So we were right about the tower…"_

 _"You can't do it on your own though," the girl continued. "Find the Wiseman when you go into town tomorrow. He'll be able to tell you more. I'll see you again… I promise, but…" Asriel raised an eyebrow as the girl became hesitant, a look of reluctance on her face. Then without warning she wrapped Asriel in a warm embrace, which he returned once he got over his surprise. Strange… something about her scent smelled good, and he found himself blushing for a number of reasons that he couldn't identify._

 _"Who… are you?"_

 _Their surroundings began to fade as the girl released him: she was smiling, and crying tears of joy! "M.y n.a.m.e i.s…"_

Asriel opened his eyes, the sweat on his brow already cooling. He glanced over to Frisk to see that she was lying still, but she stirred for just a moment, revealing that she too had just woken up and was trying to go back to sleep. He heard the sound of someone approaching and pretended to be fast asleep as the door opened.

Toriel sighed in relief as the tiny flame hovering over her fingertip revealed that the children were still asleep. She slowly closed the door to their bedroom and made her way back to her own room with Asgore, this time climbing into _his_ bed, whereupon Asgore was quick to wrap his queen in a loving embrace until they both fell back asleep.

Asriel on the other hand could not get back to sleep right away, and it wasn't because he was scared of another nightmare.

 _That girl… who was she? And why… did she seem familiar?_

 **.**

 **.**

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

 **.**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: I knew she'd be more trouble than she's worth, not that she's worth much to begin with… Also, DON'T KILL ME! T_T I promise, that should be the worst thing that happens… as long as** _ **someone**_ **behaves.**

 **Also:** _ **there**_ **Papyrus, you're in the story, are you happy now?!**

Papyrus: NO! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WASN'T ALLOWED TO HELP MY FRIENDS! SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME SHOULD NOT HAVE TO NOT BE ABLE TO HELP HIS FRIENDS! I AM _NOT_ HAPPY!

 ***sigh* Leave reviews, PM me, spread the word about the fic, and as always stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: They had better dreams once they went back to sleep, and they'll be having much better dreams in the future so long as everything goes according to plan. If you guys are wondering about Azzy's mysterious rescuer… keep wondering ;p**

 **.**

 **Ch. 6: Cool Dudes**

 _(Play Home)_

Asriel stared into the distance as he rode on his father's shoulder, knowing that he couldn't see the tower in daylight as far away as they were but unable to stop himself from trying to glimpse it anyway. On Asgore's other shoulder Frisk was leaning sideways trying hard not to nod-off. Unsurprisingly, no-one had slept well last night. They'd all had horrible nightmares, and they all pointed towards the same thing: they were connected to the tower. After a brief early-morning meeting, everyone decided it would be in there best interest to make a trip to Dawn Town together to find out what was going on. A brief but delicious breakfast was quickly prepared by Toriel before the royal family departed for Dawn Town with Undyne in tow (sans having left earlier the previous evening to check up on his brother).

Asriel cupped a hand to his mouth as yawn managed to escape him; it was still very early in the morning, and the sun had only just risen above the tree line. Ordinarily they would have waited until much later in the day to make this trip so everyone could be well-rested, but according to Asgore there would be less of a chance that they would draw a crowd if they passed through Newest Home while most monsters were still sleeping. Ever since Asgore had announced that Asriel was alive during his first visit to Newest Home, the city had been abuzz with joy; the celebratory party had lasted two whole days, and the rest of the royal family could hear it all the way from Home. Now the citizens of Newest Home were anxious and eager for a glimpse of the young prince who had once been the symbol of hope for the Underground.

Asriel blinked his eyes rapidly as he felt another yawn coming on: it was so hard not to start nodding off like Frisk was, and the fact that his mother was actually encouraging him to get a nap wasn't helping. In order to try and distract himself from thinking about sleep, Asriel pulled out the cell phone that Toriel had given him. It was green with a single yellow stripe, matching Asriel's favorite shirt, while on the back it proudly displayed the royal crest, just like the cell phones his parents had. Frisk had one of these cell phones too: Toriel had found all five of them waiting on a table in the basement of Home; yet another gift from Eltyr. They were top of the line models, with texting (even now Toriel was typing up a pun-filled message for sans on hers), social networking and an item storage feature. Asriel found that last function particularly interesting and was still trying to figure out how it worked. He knew that his mom had put something into her storage just before they left Home, something that came from the oven in the kitchen, and he wanted to see if he could look into her storage to figure out what it was. Needless to say, he wasn't having any luck.

"That's it up ahead," Undyne called out quietly from the front of the procession. Asriel glanced up eagerly, a smile forming as he peered through the opening in the trees and took in the sight of a city full of mismatched buildings and streets. In one corner of the settlement fresh snow could be seen gleaming in the light of the rising sun, while on the opposite end he could see a desert like expanse that sported a few small volcanic vents. There were also green parks and small lakes dotting the remainder of the city, where a few individuals of wildly varying sizes and shapes were just leaving their homes and preparing to greet the new day.

"So that's Newest Home," Asriel muttered in awe, suitably impressed that so many different types of monsters could live together in one place.

 _(Hoo, putting that place together was a nightmare: the sewers alone took me hours to plan out, and that's not including all of the traditional puzzles and maze-designs!)_

Frisk stirred from her sleep slightly and groggily opened her eyes to the sight of the monster city. A tiny smile soon found a home on her face as she watched all of the monsters moving about in the valley below them. The prospect of one day meeting them, talking to them, making friends with them… it filled her with determination.

"It is a shame that we must go around it today," Toriel sighed as she came to a stop next to Asgore, taking a moment to reach up and pat Frisk on the head. "If we were not so pressed for time, I would have loved to give everyone the chance to meet the heroes who freed our people from Mt. Ebott."

Asgore nodded and smiled sadly. "Me too, Tori. But we really need to find out what's going on with the tower and our dreams." He smiled up at his children, who both looked a little put-out. "Don't worry you two: after we get this tower business sorted out, we were planning on spending the night at one of the inns in Newest Home. You'll get to meet everyone soon enough."

The children's expressions brightened up at that, and the royal couple couldn't help but chuckle softly at their eagerness as they set off again along the path.

"Sorry we have to take the scenic route, your majesties," Undyne said from up ahead. "But we shouldn't be bothered by any of the citizens as long as we take this route."

"Does no-one come by this way in the morning?" Asriel asked, curious as to what made Undyne so confident.

"Well, it's not so much that," Undyne admitted with a toothy grin. "I called up the rest of the royal guard and let them know what was going on. They're patrolling along this route to make sure we don't run into any pedestrians… ah, there's one now!"

Frisk blinked slowly, suddenly wide awake. An enormous grin slowly spread across her face and she let out a giggle that made Asriel turn and give her an odd look. "Awwww, it's so _cute!_ "

 _(Play Dogsong ^^)_

The adults sweat-dropped at Frisk's reaction to the heavily-armored guardsman (although Toriel had to admit that the Greater Dog did give off a certain innocent and playful air). The guard in question simply saluted the royal family, tongue hanging out as he panted and shot Frisk a hopeful look. Frisk laughed in delight and reached over as they passed…

Undyne's eye twitched as one of the guards she had carefully hand-picked for sentry-duty was rapidly reduced to lying on his armored back, legs and arms flailing as Frisk giggled and petted him. By now Asriel had also dismounted from the king's shoulders and was looking on with a face that did little to hide his amusement as he struggled not to laugh. The queen had her hands clamped around her maw, silently giggling as her eyes leaked tears of mirth, while the king simply looked amused.

Undyne sighed in resignation once Frisk finally finished petting the Greater Dog and they set off again. _Oh well, he was always a big softie. I'm sure that the others…_

Since Frisk had spent so much time petting the Greater Dog, she herself smelled a bit like a dog when the group reached the next checkpoint. Dogamy and Dogaressa had their minds thoroughly blown when they were pet by what their noses told them was a strange puppy. Undyne's eye began to twitch involuntarily.

By standing still and letting Doggo move closer to investigate, Frisk was able to covertly pet him. Upon being pet by something that was clearly not moving, Doggo promptly freaked out and needed to take a doggie-treat break. By now the queen and prince weren't even bothering to hide their amusement, and the prince was even chatting with the guardsmen once they calmed down from being pet. Undyne hung her head in embarrassment.

Asgore sidled up to Undyne and laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Look on the bright side: Asriel and Frisk seem happy, and I'm sure the guards are thrilled that they're taking the time to play with them."

"That's true," Undyne muttered. "It's just… I can't believe how easily they're all being beaten! And by a human _child!_ " She grit her teeth, but eventually shot a smile in Frisk's direction. "Boy, humans really are different from the history books, huh?"

Asgore chuckled warmly. "They sure are. I'm so glad that we got to meet Frisk. I've never seen Asriel look so happy, not even when…" He trailed off with a frown, turning away from Undyne when she glanced at him curiously. Asgore seemed to take a moment to regain his composure before smiling again. "Well, we'd better get going: wouldn't want to keep the next guard waiting, huh?

 _A few minutes later…_

" _Wait, don't pet that one!_ " Undyne called out, momentarily forgetting the whole reason for taking a route around the city. Frisk paused, her hand halfway to petting the Lesser Dog, who whined and… stretched his neck out? Undyne sighed in relief, glad she'd prevented a repeat of yesterday's… incident. However, it was then that Frisk employed a secret art that had been passed down among the humans for generations, an art that Undyne simply had no defense against: the art of puppy-dog eyes. Undyne valiantly held against the onslaught of Frisk's gaze for several seconds, but alas the captain of the royal guard was no match for the age old secret and was forced to concede. "Alright fine, but only one pat each!"

"Asriel?" Frisk asked as they set off once again, the Lesser Dog happily seeing them off from above the treetops.

"Yeah Frisk?"

"Can monsters do things like that because they have magic?"

"I guess?" Asriel answered with a shrug. "I dunno, that was a bit weird even by monster standards." Undyne groaned in defeat: there was no-way she'd ever live this down. But… she couldn't help but smile at the sight of the royal siblings happily chatting with each other about the royal guard.

 _Maybe this wasn't a total loss after all,_ Undyne thought to herself. "Well, hopefully the rest of the trip will be uneventful," she muttered as she returned her gaze to the path ahead of them. They were almost clear of Newest Home, and soon they would be on the short path to Dawn Town.

 _(Stop the music)_

Toriel frowned as she began to make out a small structure coming into focus just ahead of them on the path. It looked something like a wooden archway, but it was poorly constructed and seemed to be made of cardboard in some places. A large half-finished sign hung from the top: it seemed to say "WELCOME ROY" in big letters.

 _(Play Nyeh Heh Heh!)_

"SANS! WHERE ARE YOU, YOU LAZYBONES?"

Undyne stiffened, sweat beading on her brow as a tall figure stepped into view from behind the archway. _Oh boy…_

Asriel and Frisk both stopped and stared at the tall skeleton standing next to the archway with an impatient expression on his face. He wore some sort of armor that left his lanky limbs exposed, red boots and gloves, and he wore a bright red cape/scarf that fluttered in the breeze. Asriel's face lit-up as he recognized who it was. Frisk on the other hand frowned and took a tiny step back as a bad memory tried to re-surface.

Seeing the look on Frisk's face Asriel quickly wrapped an arm around his little-sister figure. "Hey, it's okay Frisk: that wasn't your fault. C'mon, you did okay meeting all of those royal guards; this'll be fun too, I promise!"

Frisk looked into Asriel's blue eyes, finding nothing but confidence and sincerity within them. "O-okay, if you say so," she managed as the skeleton continued to pace around the archway.

"SANS! WHERE ARE YOU?" The sound of snoring caught everyone's attention, and sans was revealed sitting against the inside of the archway, sleeping without a care in the world. The taller skeleton narrowed his eye sockets in irritation and stomped dramatically over to the shorter skeleton, pacing his hands on his hips as he bent forward and glared at sans.

"SANS! WAKE UP, LAZYBONES!"

sans slowly opened an eye socket, giving the taller skeleton a once-over before stretching and sitting up. "sup' bro?"

The taller skeleton stomped his foot repeatedly and made irritated noises. "YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT'S 'SUP,' BROTHER! I TOLD YOU TO GO AND SPY ON THE ROYAL GUARDS AND COME LET ME KNOW WHEN THE ROYAL FAMILY IS GETTING CLOSE! I WANT TO HAVE THE ARCH DONE BY THE TIME THEY GET HERE, AND I NEED TO SEEM AS THOUGH I KNEW WHEN THEY WOULD GET HERE! AFTER ALL I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS," Papyrus struck a dramatic pose, "MUST SHOW MY GREATNESS TO THE YOUNG PRINCE SO THAT HE CAN SEE JUST HOW COOL I AM!"

Undyne was silently grinding her teeth together in fury; Toriel and Asriel both looked like they'd burst out laughing at any moment, and Frisk and Asgore could only smile at the scene. sans let out a small yawn and glanced sideways at the group.

"hmmm, if you want me to go spy on the other guards," sans thought out loud, "wouldn't that make me…"

Papyrus' eye sockets narrowed. "DON'T. YOU. DARE…"

"...a sleeper agent?"

 _(Badum-_ _ **pahh!**_ _^^)_

Papyrus' groans were nearly drowned out by Toriel and Asriel's laughter. Papyrus blinked in surprise before turning to see the group. He then turned back to sans. He turned back to the group. Then back to sans. Both sans and Papyrus turned back to the group…

 _(I think you guys get the picture)_

"OH MY GOD! SANS! IS THAT THE ROYAL FAMILY?"

sans glanced back over in the group's direction. "uh, nope, that's a dog." Papyrus turned to look at the tiny white dog, which barked a few times before settling down in the middle of the path and going to sleep.

"OH…" Papyrus huffed disappointedly. Frisk and Asgore could only blink owlishly at Papyrus: could he really not see him? Toriel and Asriel were howling with laughter, how could he _not_ notice them? Off to the side Undyne was glaring at Papyrus with soul-scorching fury, her hands balled into fists.

"...say, what's that _behind_ the dog?" sans asked. Papyrus looked in the direction his brother indicated, and his eye sockets widened again.

"OH MY GOODNESS! SANS..!" He hesitantly bent down next to his brother and whispered, "(IS THAT THE ROYAL FAMILY?)"

"yup," sans replied.

"OH MY GOD!" Papyrus quickly struck a heroic pose. "GREETINGS YOUR MAJESTIES! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE BEEN AWAITING YOUR ARRIVAL WITH EAGER EAGERNESS! PLEASE, PASS THROUGH THIS SUPER-COOL ARCHWAY THAT I MADE TO ENHANCE YOUR WALK TO THE HUMAN SETTLEMENT OF-"

"NGAAAAAHHH, Papyrus!" Undyne finally snapped, startling Papyrus into silence. " _Will you keep it down?! I bet half the monsters in Newest Home can hear you! We're trying to get the royal family to Dawn Town_ _ **without**_ _attracting attention!"_

 _(Stop the music)_

"DID SOMEONE SAY ATTENTION?" Everyone paused at the sound of the new voice and glanced about trying to locate who had spoken. Undyne paled when she realized who had spoken.

"Oh no…" she groaned. Suddenly the clearing went dark despite the rising sun, causing Toriel and Asgore to move in and protectively surround their children. Frisk and Asriel both looked afraid despite the presence of their parents, although being close to so many people that cared about her filled Frisk wi-

 _(Play It's Showtime!)_

A stage light suddenly snapped on, revealing that a series of tiny machines equipped with helicopter rotors, lights and… camera equipment? were hovering in the air. The stage light was trained upon a large machine that looked like a giant calculator with arms that balanced on a single wheel, a microphone clutched in one hand.

"OHHH YES! WELCOME DARLINGS TO OUR SHOW! 'ROYAL REVEAL WITH METTATON!' I'M YOUR HOST, METTATON, AND I HAVE A VERY SPECIAL TREAT FOR ALL OF YOU LOVELY VIEWERS THIS MORNING!" One of the camera robots changed position so that it had a shot of both Mettaton and the royal family, zooming in extra close on Frisk and Asriel.

"THAT'S RIGHT DARLINGS! AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE ROYAL FAMILY, WHOM WE'VE JUST CAUGHT ON A FAMILY OUTING TO DAWN TOWN! WHAT BUSINESS BRINGS THEM TO THE SETTLEMENT OF OUR GRACIOUS HUMAN NEIGHBORS? CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE OUR BELOVED ROYALS AROUND OUR FAIR NEWEST HOME MORE OFTEN IN THE NEAR FUTURE? ARE THE KING AND QUEEN OFFICIALLY BACK TOGETHER? WHERE HAS PRINCE ASRIEL BEEN ALL THIS TIME?" Asriel flinched a little at that last question… "AND IS THIS _DARLING_ LITTLE HUMAN HIS NEW GIRLFRIEND?" Both Frisk and Asriel blushed furiously and buried their faces into the side of Toriel and Asgore respectively. Asgore began to sweat as Toriel gave Mettaton _the look_ , fire magic gathering in her palms. "STAY TUNED AND I'LL ANSWER THESE AND MANY OTHER QUESTIONS LIVE, ON-" The broadcast feed was obscured by images of flames and static.

 **.**

 **.**

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

 **.**

 **.**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I said earlier, my life is very very busy, and I normally don't update this regularly anyway. I really do have two jobs and my work schedule is constantly in flux, so expect for updates to be very irregular. HOWEVER, I will NEVER put this story on hiatus: on that you have my word as a writer. Only an emergency like the death of a family member has a chance of putting this on hold, so worry not.**

 **Also, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone here in the USA. This last chapter was difficult to write at first because I suffered a little writer's block and I have family visiting for the holidays, but I managed to belt it out and had fun once I really got going, as I'm sure you guys may have noticed in later parts of this chapter :) I was originally going to get everyone to the tower in this chapter and explain how it works, but then I had so much fun with the guards and stuff and saw that the chapter was running a little long ^^; Next chapter they'll get to the mysterious tower for sure, I promise. And then things will really get interesting…**

Asriel: Don't forget to favorite the story and leave reviews!

Frisk: And stay tuned for the next chapter! Wow Asriel, you were right: this place is _weird._

Asriel: I know, right?


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: These transition chapters are surprisingly hard to write, but we're about to get into the meat of the story, so no worries. But in all seriousness, the bulk of this chapter** _ **did not**_ **want to get out of my head! Ugh...**

 **Ch. 7: A Determined Heart**

"well, that was something," sans idly commented as everyone else sat around catching their breath. The group of monsters and one human were now on a small shaded path just a few dozen yards away from Dawn Town, and none of them had any idea how they had gotten there (with the exception of sans).

"Who… who was that?!" Toriel growled, her eyes blazing with anger. "What monster would have the nerve to ambush the royal family? And what business did he have asking all of those questions as though we were inclined to answer?"

Asgore bit the bottom of his lip nervously; the situation was reminding the king exactly how scary his ex could be when angered. "That was Mettaton," he answered reluctantly. "Dr. Alphys, the royal scientist, built a robot that had a SOUL while doing research on the power of human SOULS for me."

Toriel blinked, anger momentarily forgotten as she turned to Asgore. "Research?"

"To try and find another way to break the barrier," Asgore elaborated, head bowed in shame at what attempting to break the barrier had entailed. Toriel frowned at his expression; there were still things between them that kept her relationship with Asgore from being what it once was, the fate of the six humans being the thorniest issue. Still, in the days following her reunion with him and her son she had seen that Asgore deeply and truly regretted his actions, and carried tremendous guilt in his heart. It was… comforting to know that he had tried to look into other ways to destroy the barrier.

However…

"Then why does this… 'robot' behave in such an outrageous fashion?"

Asgore was silent. "Ummm… he decided to become a T.V idol, and everyone in the Underground loved him?" He feebly offered by way of explanation. "So, I guess that makes us a… 'hot topic?'"

 _(Play Dating Tense!)_

Toriel gave Asgore a blank stare. "...what?"

"Er, what I mean is…" Asgore was sweating now. "You _have_ been away for a long time Tori; most people knew there was a monster queen but couldn't really remember you. And now that you're back, and we were seen together… well…" He mentally cursed himself as he felt his face heat up in a blush. _Ohhh, Tori's going to kill me!_

Toriel held his gaze for a few more tense moments before giving a resigned sigh. "Oh very well. It was bound to happen eventually I suppose." Asgore blinked as he slowly realized that he was not about to be destroyed! "Even so," Toriel huffed, her expression set in an annoyed pout. "I would rather not be gossiped about by such an outlandish creature! After all, he had the gall to suggest that Asriel and Frisk…"

 _(Stop the music)_

Asgore let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Well to an outsider I can see how someone could make that mistake. They are close after all," he trailed off with a fond smile in the direction of the children.

"That guy," Frisk muttered to Asriel, "was weird."

"Yeah," Asriel nodded. "I wonder how he knew we were coming?" He paused for a moment and blushed, not sure how to voice what he wanted to say next. "So uh, Frisk?" Frisk looked at Asriel inquisitively as he struggled with his words. "That thing that Mettaton said about...us…"

Now it was Frisk's turn to blush. "Y-yeah, that was really weird. Why'd he think I was your girlfriend?"

Asriel laughed nervously. "Yeah, kinda silly, huh?" They both fell silent, not quite sure what to say next…

"HOW THE HECK DID WE GET HERE?!"

 _(Play Nyeh Heh Heh!)_

The royal family glanced over at the skeleton brothers. sans was leaning against a tree and seemed to be struggling not to nod-off, while Papyrus had his hands on his hips and was looking annoyed again.

"ONE MINUTE WE'RE BEING FILMED BY THAT METTATON GUY," Papyrus sweated a little and continued a little more quietly, "THEN THE QUEEN GOT REALLY MAD… AND NOW WE'RE HERE! WHERE ARE WE ANYWAY?"

Undyne frowned at their surroundings. "I'm pretty sure this is the road just before Dawn Town; if we go a little further we should be standing right at the western border of the town." She looked over at sans and Papyrus and arched an eyebrow in confusion. "How _did_ we get here so fast?"

"i took a shortcut," sans lazily mumbled, eye sockets just barely opened.

"A shortcut?" Frisk asked as she joined the conversation. "But… where did we go? I don't remember us going anywhere to get here."

"well we seemed to be going _nowhere_ in the first place," sans commented, his perpetual smile growing a little larger as he sat up straight.

"Why didn't you tell us about that shortcut last night?" Undyne demanded. "It could have saved us a lot of hassle!" sans hummed thoughtfully.

"i guess it only just… _dawned_ on me." Papyrus groaned while Toriel and Asriel both giggled.

 _(Stop the music)_

"Well, we should probably get going," Asgore said once everyone had calmed down. A few minutes of walking later, and they emerged from the trees on the edge of town. Dawn Town was a small and unimpressive place compared to Newest Home, but that was only because human architecture lacked the odd construction of monster homes. The brick houses were set into mostly neat rows that were divided by streets of white cobblestone. Black lampposts stood sentinel on every corner and intersection to provide illumination at night, and everywhere the group looked there were humans calmly going about their lives.

Toriel automatically stepped closer to her children and put her arms around their shoulders, trusting Undyne's reports that the people were friendly towards monsters but not wanting to take any chances. An adult human passing by on his way to deliver a stack of newspapers noticed the odd group standing at the edge of town. His eyes went wide in surprise for a moment, but then he smiled and offered a quick wave before continuing his deliveries. Toriel visibly relaxed after that, something that Asriel picked up on. The young Boss Monster squeezed the arm that his mother had draped around him and smiled up at her.

"It'll be okay this time mom. Humans have changed, remember?"

Toriel blinked in surprise at having been found out. She smiled at Asriel and hugged both him and Frisk. "Y-yes, you are right, my child. And besides, this time I am here with you."

" _We_ are here," Asgore softly corrected, moving to stand behind his family with a smile.

Any lingering nervousness dissipated from the group as they began to stroll through the quiet town. Undyne was keeping a wary eye out for trouble while simultaneously comparing the town to various town settings she'd seen in the anime she'd watched with Alphys. There was a brief period when the group had to stop because Papyrus had caught sight of an Italian restaurant and couldn't tear his gaze away from the spaghetti. Eventually sans volunteered to stay behind and keep Papyrus out of trouble while the taller skeleton asked the frazzled looking owner to give him cooking tips.

Some of the humans they encountered on their way to the center of town stopped and called out to Asgore by his title of monster king, and he in turn returned their greetings and chatted with them about small things like the storm from the previous day. This confused Toriel at first because this was Asgore's first visit to Dawn Town as well, but as Asgore explained it, Undyne had accidentally let slip the nickname that everyone had for him, so the humans were able to conclude that he was the king.

After a few more minutes of walking the remainder of the group reached a small park area that sat just outside the center of the city. Many young children were playing games in the grass or chasing each other across colorful playground forts and slides while shrieking with laughter. Between the houses and buildings beyond the park, it was possible to make out a large empty area.

The group paused just outside the park as Undyne's phone began to ring. She quickly retrieved it from a compartment inside her armor and opened it. "Hello?" Undyne blinked in confusion and then stared at her phone. "Weird…"

"Something wrong?" Asgore inquired.

"Must've been a wrong number; whoever they were, they hung up as soon as I picked up." Undyne shook her head dismissively. "Well anyway, the tower is just beyond these buildings here. Alphys's field lab is on this end as well."

"Then we should pay her a visit and see how her search for the Wiseman is going," Asgore nodded. "With any luck, she's also managed to learn a thing or two about the tower."

Undyne and Asgore proceeded past the park, Toriel and the children following behind… until something caught Frisk's attention and made her stop. Seeing this, Asriel turned around as well and followed her gaze to a pair of children in the playground, a boy and a girl. The girl had blond hair pulled back into two side braids and wore a purple skirt, and she was sitting on her backside crying softly. The boy wore a red and black striped shirt and blue shorts and was standing before her with a cocky smirk, a thin stick held in his right hand. Toriel narrowed her eyes at this, having doubled-back when she realized that Asriel and Frisk had fallen behind. She motioned for the others to go on ahead and moved behind her children, trying to figure out how to break up what appeared to be an ugly situation without sparking an interspecies incident.

"I said I give up already!" The girl wailed. "Why do you have to be such a big meanie?"

"Finally!" the boy huffed. "You should have given up sooner! Alright, I show MERCY and SPARE you!" Frisk and Asriel both blinked. The way the boy put special emphasis on those two words…

The girl climbed to her feet and glared at the bully. "I hate playing Humans and Monsters with you! Why can't you play the game the right way?" Now Toriel was intrigued as well. What sort of a game were they playing, and did it have any bearing on the current human attitude towards monsters?

"I _am_ playing the right way!" the bully insisted stubbornly. "The human has to get the monster to not want to fight anymore either by doing some silly ACT or by FIGHTing until the monster doesn't wanna fight anymore! _Everyone_ knows that!" Toriel and her children were speechless. This was a game that the children played in this town?

 _The girl, she said the boy was not playing 'the right way.'_ Toriel mused as she continued to observe the proceedings unnoticed along with Frisk and Asriel. _Does this mean that the commonly accepted way to win is ACTing and then showing MERCY?_ Oh how she hoped this was the case! If it was, then it was a sure sign that things really had changed on the surface.

 _(Play Enemy Approaching)_

"Okay then tough guy," someone called out. "In that case it's my turn to be the monster." A boy who looked to be at least 12 stepped up from where he had been watching nearby. He wore a blue and yellow striped shirt, black shorts, and had short messy black hair. He glared at the bully with intense brown eyes, his expression set in an angry scowl as he walked up to the bully and stood so that he was right in his face. The bully took a step back, clearly intimidated as his confident expression faltered for a moment, though he swiftly resumed his tough-guy act.

"Fine by me, Adam," the bully sneered as he took up a ready-stance with his stick, holding it like a sword. "So what kinda monster are you?"

The boy named Adam seemed to pause in thought for a moment before replying. "Okay, I'm Hammerhead. I look like a walking shark, only I've got a hammer for a head." He stuck his hands into his pockets and smirked. "You get the first turn because sharks can see moving things better than not-moving things."

The bully scoffed as Adam pretended to glance around cluelessly, as though he really was trying to find the bully (Frisk giggled at the shifty look in his eyes that reminded her of Doggo). "Better give up fast if you don't wanna get hurt!" the bully declared as he lunged forward and raised his stick to strike. As soon as he moved though Adam looked his way and flashed a toothy grin that promised trouble. As the bully swung Adam nimbly took a step back to avoid the stick. He then reared back, arching his spine as if he was a swaying tree, and then…

 _ **Wham!**_ Asriel and Frisk gaped: Adam just head-butted the bully full-force! The bully's knees wobbled for a second before he fell onto his backside, the start of a nasty bruise darkening his forehead while his face bore an expression of shock. Then tears began to leak from his eyes as he whimpered and his face scrunched up in pain. "Aaaaahh!" the bully sobbed as he clutched his forehead and scrambled to his feet, quickly running out of the playground and crying for his mother. Adam appeared no worse for wear and simply walked over to the girl who was being picked on.

 _(Stop the music. Also… Adam won! Adam received 0 EXP and 0 gold ^^)_

"You okay?" Adam asked. The girl sniffled once but nodded and offered Adam a tiny smile. Then her gaze wandered past him and landed on Frisk Asriel and Toriel, causing her eyes to go wide with wonder. Adam noticed her expression and turned around with a puzzled frown, his expression quickly matching the girl's when he saw the cause. Asriel smiled and was about to give him a 'howdy,' but Adam spoke first.

"Frisk?!"

Asriel blinked. _Huh? Wait, he knows..?_

Adam's look of shock morphed into a great big grin of triumph as he ran over to Frisk, who was looking confused but thoughtful. He didn't even seem to notice Asriel or Toriel anymore, although the girl he had defended from the bully certainly did and couldn't tear her eyes away from Toriel.

"You changed your mind!" Adam said as he stopped in front of Frisk. "You didn't climb the mountain after all! I'm so glad you're okay!" For a few moments Frisk was just as confused as Asriel, but then…

 _(Play Memory)_

 **...Two weeks ago, one night before Frisk fell…**

" _Hey!" Frisk turned around. Her expression was unreadable and blank, devoid of any emotion as the boy ran up to her, pausing a moment to catch his breath once he caught up with her._

" _I saw you get off at the bus stop. Where do you think you're going? It's the crack of dawn, and there aren't any more towns that way!" Frisk remained silent and turned to face the path before her, her eyes fixed on the foreboding sight of Mt. Ebott in the distance. He followed her gaze, eyes widening as comprehension set in._

" _You're going to climb the mountain?" Adam grit his teeth. "Why? I don't know what you've heard about that mountain, but everyone who's ever gone up there never comes back!"_

" _I know." Adam blinked; her voice was almost a whisper, but that wasn't what made a chill of concern shoot down his spine: it was how hollow her voice sounded. It was the voice of someone…_

" _So you're giving up…" Adam growled, causing Frisk to turn back to him in surprise. Adam balled his hands into fists and glared at the ground by his feet. "My dad told me that no matter what happens, people have to keep on living, because you never know when something good might happen. He said… he said that you have to stay determined if you want to live a good life." Adam raised his head and pointed at Frisk. "Hey! What's your name?"_

 _Frisk blinked, surprise and confusion briefly lending emotion to her otherwise expressionless face. "...Frisk."_

 _Adam nodded. "Alright Frisk, well if you're going up Mt. Ebott then you're gonna have to promise me that you'll come back down, you got it?"_

 **.**

 _(Stop the music)_

"I promised you I'd come back from the mountain…" Frisk muttered, shaking her head as the memory finished resurfacing.

"That's right!" Adam said with a smile. "And if you're here now, that means you didn't climb the mountain, right?"

Frisk shook her head and smiled. "But I _did_ climb the mountain. I fell down a hole in a cave, and I found…" She glanced back at Asriel and Toriel with a smile, causing Adam to glance at them as well. Adam's smile faltered for a moment, but his expression grew thoughtful as Asriel stepped forward.

"Howdy! My name's Asriel Dreemurr." He extended his hand towards Adam, whom shook it without a moment's hesitation.

"Name's Adam Summers," Adam replied while gesturing at the girl behind him with his thumb. "And that's Evie Springs, she's my sis." He gave Asriel an amused smile once he released his hand and looked down at his own. "Wow, kinda feels weird shaking hands with someone covered in fur; kinda tickles."

Asriel and Frisk both giggled at that; Frisk knew very well how much Asriel's fur tickled: her foster brother was a bit of a hugger. She noticed that Evie was still staring at Toriel in awe, her mouth hanging open a little.

"That's our mom," Frisk told Evie, finally snapping her out of her stupor. "She's super nice and cooks the best food in the world!"

Toriel chuckled softly at Frisk's praise and took her cue to approach. "Greetings young ones, I am Toriel. It is a great pleasure to meet you both."

Adam nodded politely at Toriel while Evie managed to stutter a shaky hello; she seemed to be the shy type. "So you two are monsters, huh?" Adam said. "Guess all those stories the old timers are always going on about were true after all."

Asriel nodded. "Yeah, and Frisk is the one who helped us finally break the Barrier!" Adam stared at Frisk with a look of amazement, while Frisk fidgeted uncomfortably.

"I… did?" she asked. It wasn't that she didn't believe Asriel, she just couldn't seem to remember.

"That is correct my child," Toriel said. "You and Asriel were able to work together with everyone in the Underground to set us free. Now we can finally begin to rebuild and move towards the future together."

Evie frowned as something occurred to her. "Wait, Frisk said that misses Toriel is her mom, right? But Toriel's not…"  
"It's complicated grown-up stuff," Adam told her. "It's kinda like how I'm your brother even though…" Asriel and Frisk both noticed that Adam faltered for a moment, "... even though I wasn't always living with you and mom and dad."

"Oh…" Evie said. "I guess that kinda makes sense…"

Toriel could see that the conversation was moving in a direction that made Adam uncomfortable, so she decided to change the subject. "That was very noble of you to defend your sister like that Adam. I am curious, what was that game that you were playing?"

"It's called monsters and humans," Adam replied. "The guy who founded our town a really long time ago made it up. You take turns being a human or a monster, and you have to get each other to surrender and then show MERCY. The human is supposed to ACT a certain way to make the monster stop fighting, and the monster has to use magic to try and make the human give up and run." He frowned in the direction that the bully had fled. "The human _can_ use a stick as a weapon and FIGHT until the monster surrenders, but only idiots play that way."

"Yeah," Evie nodded with a cross expression. "Only mean people do that. It's much more fun to try and ACT, because whoever is the monster can come up with silly stuff that the human has to do to win."

Asriel looked thoughtful. "Hey mom, if I only use my magic to make little lights, do you think I could..?"

"I wanna play too!" Frisk exclaimed. She turned to Adam with an eager light in her eyes. "Umm, can there be two monsters at once?"

Adam found himself blushing for some reason when he saw Frisk's smile. "Um, yeah, sure. Sometimes three people can be monsters at the same time. I-I think the rule is that it's supposed to be three monsters for every human."

Toriel laughed, delighted by the children's enthusiasm. "That sounds absolutely splendid! Of course you may play my children." Toriel's smile grew as the children cheered. Moving to a nearby park bench the monster queen sat down and watched as Adam and Evie explained some of the more complicated rules of monsters and humans to Frisk and Asriel. Her gaze often settled on Adam: he seemed to have a good heart, and his eyes held a certain spark that she'd come to see in Frisk's eyes as well. Was it the determination that Eltyr had spoken of?

 _(Play Alphys)_

Meanwhile, the skeleton brothers had caught up with Asgore and Undyne in Alphys's field lab. Although 'field lab' was a bit generous since it consisted mostly of white tents full of computer equipment, scattered notebooks and papers, and spent cups of instant noodles. The tower outside was far more impressive: it had leapt into existence as soon as the group got close enough, a massive structure of impossible geometry and architecture. The front doors alone were as wide as a house and three stories tall, all imposing white marble carved with intricate pictures of winged humanoids.

"I-I-I really wasn't e-e-expecting everyone s-so soon," Alphys stuttered as she wrung her hands nervously and hurriedly bowed before the king. "I-I would've t-tried to tidy the place up a little…"

"Oh that's okay Alphys," Asgore said with a friendly smile. "We didn't phone ahead, so don't worry about it." His expression grew a little more serious as he added, "So, have you been able to learn anything new about the tower?"

"U-um, yeah, I h-have," Alphys stammered. "Apparently I-It was built a-a-after the human monster war." That earned a look of surprise from Alphys's guests.

"WOWIE! THAT MEANS THE TOWER IS REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, _REALLY_ OLD!" Papyrus exclaimed.

"no way. _really?_ " sans asked with a smirk, earning him an annoyed glare from his brother.

"But how?" Undyne asked. "It's made of magic, right? If it was built _after_ monsters were sealed under Mt. Ebott, that would mean the humans built it, but they don't have magic."

"I-I was c-c-curious about that too," Alphys said, trying to hide her blush by pretending to busy herself with some notes scattered on one of the desks. "B-but the Wiseman, he c-c-cleared everything up w-when I met him the other day. I th-think he's on his w-way back here now; he k-keeps popping in…"

"Hoh,hoh,hoh,hoh! So that's why the old ears are burnin'! Sounds like people are chatting about me!" The group turned to see a short old human enter the tent. He wore a neat red vest and black pants, the chain of a pocket watch trailing from his breast pocket. He had thinning grey hair that lined the top of his head like a bird's nest, and he had a short scraggly grey beard. He wore a very mellow expression, his eyes half-closed in amusement as he smiled cheerfully. "Well, hello there!" he greeted the group of monsters warmly. "I'm the one everyone in this sleepy old place calls Wiseman, hoh hoh!" He looked Asgore up and down thoughtfully. "Hoh hoh! You must be this ol' king fluffy buns who leads the monsters like everyone's been sayin'! Welcome to Dawn Town!"

"Howdy!" Asgore replied. "I am king Asgore Dreemurr. This is Undyne, the captain of the royal guard, and these two are sans and Papyrus."

"HMMM, YOU LOOK DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER HUMANS," Papyrus muttered. His face lit up as if he'd come to a realization. "I GOT IT! YOU MUST BE A TYPE OF HUMAN WHO SPENDS A LOT OF TIME IN THE WATER BUT DOESN'T HAVE SCALES!" he concluded confidently, earning odd looks from everyone. "THAT'S WHY YOU'RE ALL WRINKLY!"

Wiseman laughed his head off at that. "Hoh hoh hoh hoh! A water dwelling human, eh? Well I've been mistaken for worse!" Once he'd finished having his laugh the old human gave Asgore another appraising look. "Now then, what brings the king all the way out here? And with such… _humerus_ company?" Papyrus had a look of horror on his face, while sans was grinning like a jack o' lantern.

 _(Stop the music)_

Asgore's expression became somber. "Our son Asriel, and a human child we've adopted have been having terrible nightmares, nightmares that have the tower in them. So have my wife and I, along with Undyne and these two." He fixed Wiseman with a serious look. "We're certain that it's connected to the Tower in some way, so we were hoping to meet you and…" he trailed off. While Asgore was speaking, Wiseman's jovial expression slowly melted off of his face, his eyes opening fully as his smile became a frown. Without a word Wiseman walked over to a nearby chair and sat in it, head bowed slightly in contemplation.

"It sounds as though you require the services that only the Tower of Dreaming Moons can provide." He let out a long sigh. "I had a feeling this was going to happen. It was too much to hope that the Barrier had been broken without too much heartache." He smiled wryly at the assembled monsters. "I think it's best you have a seat. In order to understand what's happening in your dreams, you must first understand the tower, the reason for its creation, and the ones who created it." He allowed for the others to get comfortable as he decided how to begin. Once the others were ready he removed a silver pocket watch from his breast pocket and stared wistfully at its polished surface. "It began over two thousand years ago, before the war between monsters and humans…"

 **.**

 **.**

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

 **.**

 **.**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: A lot happened in this chapter, and it would** _ **not**_ **let me write it, so I'm going to cut it short and begin working on the next one. Lots of important plot info is coming up next, so I figured it was better to make that a separate chapter from this one; plus you guys got this chapter sooner than If I had gone ahead and tacked on everything else, so you're welcome.**

 **Also I'm gonna nip this one at the bud: ADAM IS** _ **NOT**_ **NESS! Although admittedly I did choose his shirt colors to match Ness's, just sticking to the "Undertale references Earthbound/Mother" thing. Anyway I hope you guys liked this chapter, make sure to leave reviews or private message me and tell me how I'm doing. If you think I'm making anyone act too out of character, please call me out on it. Also I want to apologize to some of my reviewers for the error plaguing my private messaging, t͕͚̀h̥̥̩e̜̝̬̱r͓̞e̼͎̩̤'̸̖̦̲̲̻s̗̬͜ ͕͕̗͘som̯͞e̼͓̺̗̮̻ g̞̟̩̼͙e** **͙̱̣̞̭̬** **n͡e͈ͅr҉a̩̲̖ͅl̢ ̨͔͔w** **̺̣** **e̠̮̭̫͇i̺̰̱̦͘r̹d͉͉ͅn̮̺̻̟͙̥e̸̗̻͍s͏̙̝̹s̞̰͕ͅ ̗̩̠͟g͟oi̟n̮͖̦̫̝g̸̫͖̺̺̼̻ ͓͉̫̟̲͡o** **̣́** **n̼͚̗̜͙ ̯̩̪̖w͙̼̖̼̟̜ẖ̤͡e̪̹r̰̩é̖ ̢p̩̳͙͓̯̼ͅe͏̦͇͙̬͔̻ǫ̘̝̞̱̩̖pl̠̱̦̝͓e̝͓ ̠k̥e͉͉͔̰̠͚̩͟e̦̻̝͈͔p̯̠͍̫͇͍ ̞̹̟̪͢g̖͚̠̜̯̝e̘̦̺̥̪͉͚t̨̫̰͇t̻̥͕͖͔i̛̳̩ng͙̪̞͚ ͚̜̘͔w͠e̝i̻̯̟͙̰r͈̟̥̬d̳͔̫ m̸̹e̢͇̗̯̝͖͈ͅs̜̞͓s̳̳͜a̮̥̞g̛͖̗̯e̡͚̘s̥̖͜ ̛͉͍̲̯̞ͅf̩̭̝̞͚͝r̴̼o̜̙̟̞m͕͎̜̜͙͔ ͘m̟̱̲̩̬e** **̣̥̪̭̙͞** **̗̠͓̘͡t̠̮̗̗̗̱h̵͈a̙̲̳̺̪̖͎t̳͍̜̯ ̖̗̭̙̫͉͎I͙̞͍̟̗̮ ̵̞̳d͈̳͎id̡͉ͅn̛͓̻̖̹͙͍̹'t̢ ̹̞̲̩̭͍͝s͇̪̹̜͖̳͠e̳̟n** **̣͈̭̹͜** **d͎͎̹.̼͉͚̯ W̩͓̼̟̜̺ai̬̱̫͇̻̼̜t͇͘ ͓̲̖̹̞̩͉͟a̶͕ ̦̰̖̲ͅs̭e͈̥̬̤̘̤̱͠c** **͉̠̣͓͞ͅ** **.͕̘̫̪.͔̙͚.͉̩̮̻̪̥̳͝**

 **͏͇̩̳̫̻̥**

 **?: S̫̀t̖̱̮͝a̫͉̮̱̘̖̱̙y̗͍̮̫͝ ̶̝̲̥̖͠t** **̭̫̱̥̣͞** **u** **̣̺̹̘̱͚̫̬͟͡** **n̶̹͡ȩ̵̞̪̹͇͢ͅd̦͢ ̱̲̞́͢f̢̯̪̦̤̠̗ͅo̷͙͔̫r̷̷͖̲ ̸̵̺̥͉̪̹͕̥͖ͅt̡̹͓̗̫̰͓̩ḩ̝̺͎̗̘̹͎ḙ̛̲̼͎͙͔̫̕ ̧̮͟n͞҉̫̜͍̦͖e̶̶̡̹̘x̨̡̱̭ţ̶̖͖̗͡ ̪̭͍̜̟̮̪̥̕c̛͓̲̰͍̞ḩ̼̖͕̪́a̟̤̺͘͠p̴̨̘t͈̖̰̗͉̀e̮r̢̡̙̯̱̹̰͖̮!͏͏̙**


	8. Chapter 8

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter practically leapt from my brain onto the document :) I'm going to be introducing some fic-specific cannon here that will set the stage for a little mystery of sorts. Also, I'd like to try a little something here and break form a little with the audio suggestions. As awesome as the Undertale soundtrack is, there are some scenes I have planned for this story that invoke in my mind the tracks of different games. Should I include these non-Undertale tracks in my suggestions, or do you guys want me to keep things exclusively Undertale? I'll use a Youtube link in this chapter to lead you to one such track at the start of the appropriate scene, so let me know if it works for you or if you think I should stick to Undertale only.**

 **EDIT: So the youtube link won't work here; I've swapped it out for an Undertale track that fits**

 **Ch. 8: Another Legend**

 _(Play Once Upon A Time)_

 _"In those days, there were four different types of beings who dwelt on this earth. There were the humans, the animals, the monsters and the fairies. Fairies are beings comprised of magic and dreams, somewhat similar in nature to monsters in that they are generally peaceful creatures with bodies made of magic. However, because fairies are also made of dreams their physical forms are extremely malleable, allowing them to change into any shape or form they desire. This also allows a fairy's SOUL to persist after death, but unlike human SOULS the SOUL of a fairy cannot remain here on earth. Instead, the SOUL of a fairy will go to a place that is between dream and reality, a place the fairies call Alfheim, to await the day when their dreams become strong enough to allow them to take physical form once again."_

 _"The fairies dwelt in peace with the humans and monsters, using their magics to sow joy and wonder in the hearts and minds of others. For above all, fairies are benevolent creatures who desire nothing but goodness and love."_

 _"Then came the dark day that war broke out between monsters and humans. Fear and hatred spread in the hearts of man, and the fairies were horrified. They saw the humans attacking the monsters, and the fairies feared that without their intervention all of monster kind would surely perish. But the rulers of the fairies, king Oberon and queen Titania, would not allow their kind to be a part of the war. Instead they decreed that all fairies on earth must retreat to their home in Alfheim, and never return to earth. This angered many fairies, for they felt that the king and queen were abandoning the monsters, but it was soon revealed that they had not forsaken the monsters. Seven humans had been born from liaisons with fairies, and thanks to their heritage these humans possessed the power of magic. The king and queen contacted these seven mages and bade them seal monster kind within a barrier, not to keep them imprisoned, but to keep them safe from the humans who sought to destroy them."_

 _"With the Barrier in place, the war came to an end, but the evil of the war had taken root within the hearts of man. Disgusted, Queen Titania withdrew from the world of men many of the magic and blessings that fairy kind had bestowed upon it, giving them instead to the defeated monsters as recompense. This angered the humans greatly, and they vowed to find a way to invade Alfheim and take back the gifts the fairies had stolen from them. The king scoffed at the arrogance of the humans, but the queen did not dismiss it as an empty threat. Wary of mankind's determination, the queen cast a great spell upon the earth, causing all memory of the fairies to be obscured as nothing more than idle fantasy and dreams. In time everyone, even the monsters, forgot that the fairies were ever real, and they faded into obscurity."_

 _"However, all was not well within Alfheim. Many fairies were still angered by humanity's actions and did not believe that they had been punished enough. Disobeying their king and queen, these fairies returned to earth, obsessed with punishing humans for their wicked ways. These fairies would assume terrifying forms and hunt humans with merciless cruelty, tormenting them even in the world of dreams. In this way they doomed themselves, for you see fairies feel things twice as strongly as any human or monster. When they love something, they love it with all their heart, and when they despise something, the whole of their being burns with malice. Combined with the wickedness that had taken up residence within the souls of humans, the rogue fairies became corrupted, their benevolence twisted into a spiteful and warped reflection of what they once were. The king and queen looked upon what had become of those who left Alfheim and wept, declaring with heavy hearts that they were fairies no-more. The fallen fairies were given a new name: Nightmares, and by decree of the king they were carefully hunted down and destroyed by the bravest and strongest fairies, whom were quickly recalled to Alfheim least they suffer the same fate."_

 _"However, the malice of the Nightmares persisted after their destruction, and though they were never again able to assume physical form they escaped into the realm of dreams. Overtime the Nightmares went mad, losing all reason and memory of what they were or what their purpose was. They only knew how to instill terror, and instinctively lashed out at the sleeping minds of any and all dreamers, filling the rest of many with terrifying visions. This is the sad fate of the fairies, forgotten in self-imposed exile while their fallen brethren torment the dreams of those who dwell upon the earth."_

Wiseman fell silent as he caught his breath; everyone else was silent as they took his story in. Alphys quietly went up to a watercooler and got a cup of water, which she handed to Wiseman.

"Ah, thank you for that young lady," Wiseman said as he gratefully took a long drink. "I'm afraid I haven't used my storytelling voice for such a long story in quite a while, hoh hoh."

"Wow…" Undyne said quietly. "So these fairies had the human mages create the barrier to _protect_ us? That's just… wow."

"BUT I DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Papyrus exclaimed. "ALL OF THE HUMANS WE'VE SEEN ARE SO NICE! LIKE THAT NICE MAN FROM THE RESTAURANT WHO SHOWED ME HOW TO MAKE MARINARA SAUCE FROM SCRATCH!"

"Not all humans are like that, unfortunately," Asgore said quietly, his expression downcast. "Monster SOULS are filled with things like kindness, compassion and love, but human SOULS are able to exist without those things."

Wiseman nodded sagely. "That's not to say that all humans are without those things, but there seems to be no shortage of misfortune and bad things in the world, and not all humans are strong or determined enough to carry on without losing the most important parts of their hearts." He smiled knowingly. "On the other hand, there are also lots of us humans who are determined enough to get through many bad things and still keep a hold of our love and kindness. In fact, this next part of my story here is a case in point." He cleared his throat and resumed his tale.

" _Now during the war between humans and monsters, many humans were recruited to do battle. They were told things to make them fight, such as that the monsters wanted to steal the SOUL of every human and become powerful. The impressionable young men were filled with fear, and their cunning leaders were able to sharpen this fear into anger and hate. They went out to fight the monsters without any doubts or feelings of remorse…"_

" _...But not all of them. Among the few who saw past the lies, there was a young man, a farmer's son who had never held a weapon in his life. His name has been lost to the passage of time, so we shall simply call him the Dreamer. Like all the other young recruits the Dreamer's superiors filled him with horror stories of monsters while dangling the promise of land and status in front of them should they fight well. The Dreamer was scared, but he didn't want to fight. He'd grown up listening to his grandmother's stories of kind monsters and the games they played with lost humans, and he wanted to believe them with all his heart. Then the day came that the Dreamer saw battle. At first he tried not to fight the monsters, wanting to show them mercy and pleading with them not to kill him. But then something changed in him, and he began to fight back. The Dreamer was determined to survive the war and return to his home, and he fought the monsters as though they had killed him many times before."_

" _The Dreamer was not the only one to exhibit this unusual knack for battle: there were many other humans who had never fought before but suddenly seemed to be experts in battle. These determined humans came to be revered as the heroes of the war, purported to be invincible in battle."_

Asgore frowned. _Could the Dreamer have gained the power to SAVE and LOAD? Maybe he was killed the first time he saw battle and tried to show mercy, but he kept loading and was killed over and over until he decided to fight?_

" _Finally the barrier was cast and the war was ended. There were some humans who believed that they should pursue the monsters through the barrier and ensure their destruction, but the Dreamer and many of the other determined heroes of the war opposed them and declared the war was at an end. Those who fought well were awarded status, wealth and land, but the Dreamer cared not for these things. He had become disgusted with himself and his fellow humans for the terrible things they had done, and deep in his heart he truly believed that he deserved to be punished for his role in the war."_

" _The Dreamer exiled himself from his home town, vowing that he would never deserve to set foot within it again for the things he had done in order to return to it. He instead went to the land that had been granted to him as his reward for fighting, and aimlessly wandered for days, lost within his own mind. At night, the Nightmares were able to see into his dreaming soul and learn of his part in the war, and so they tormented him most viciously. This went on for weeks until the Dreamer was at his breaking point. The Dreamer gave a heartfelt cry unto the heavens, begging any benevolent force that might be listening for a way to atone for his crimes. The fairy king Oberon heard the Dreamer's wish, and was moved by the genuine piety and regret of this one human. Oberon decided to grant the Dreamer's wish, and an enormous tower rose up from the earth in the middle of the Dreamer's land. This tower was very special in that it was directly connected to the realm of Alfheim, and upon entering the tower the Dreamer found himself presented with a gauntlet of challenges that reflected his time in the war. In each floor of the tower fairies appeared before the Dreamer disguised as monsters, and to the Dreamer's deliverance, this time he had the option of showing them mercy. The Dreamer climbed the tower and confronted his regrets as he did so, and he never once killed any of the monsters. Upon reaching the top, the Dreamer felt the heavy weight of regret lift from his heart, and he wept deeply for he knew that he had at last found forgiveness."_

" _The Dreamer founded a town around the base of the tower and sent word to the other heroes of the war, those determined humans who like him regretted the part they had to play in the war. When they reached the tower, it changed its shape and contents to tailor itself so that it could both test and mend the hearts of all who dared climb it. Legends began to spread saying that a great treasure is hidden at the top of the tower, a magical artifact that can mend heartache and grant the deepest desire of whoever holds it. But the truth is that the only healing the tower offers is a journey, a journey to test the climber's soul. Only those who the tower finds worthy may climb its heights and brave the trials held within."_

 _(Stop the music)_

Wiseman fell silent to allow his words to sink in. "The legends are true for the most part; I've spent a quarter of my life studying the tower and the legends connected to it. Why, I've even been inside once or twice."

Asgore blinked. "You've been inside the tower? Then does that mean you've climbed it all the way to the top?"

"Oh, no no no!" Wiseman laughed. "I've only been in as far as the entrance hall. That's as far as you can get if you're a 'tourist' like me. But if someone with a genuine need for the tower enters it, a passage will appear within that leads up to the first floor."

Asgore hummed thoughtfully. "May we see the inside of the tower then?"

"I don't see why not!" Wiseman smiled as he got up from his seat. "It's not like I'm the keeper of the thing, you hardly need my permission!" He moved towards one of the entrance flaps of the tent but paused as a thought seemed to occur to him. "You said there were a few others who have been having dreams with the tower in em', didn't you?"

"Yes, my wife and our children," Asgore confirmed.

"Then you'd better have them come as well. Whenever the tower calls to multiple people simultaneously, it usually means that all of them need to climb the tower together, otherwise none of them will be able to climb it at all."

Asgore nodded in understanding and reached into his robes for his cell phone…

 _(Back with Toriel and the others, play Dating Start!)_

"Dog slobber attack!" Frisk yelled as she charged after Adam while letting her tongue loll out like a dog's. Evie laughed at Adam as he frantically tried to evade Frisk, all while trying to avoid stars of red light that swiftly flew after them courtesy of Asriel. This was the third round they'd played where Frisk and Asriel were the 'monsters,' as even though they'd been taking it in turns to play as humans or monsters, Asriel's magic made him the popular choice for the role.

"Hey come on, don't drool on me!" Adam protested as Frisk came close to grabbing him again. "That's gross!"

"Time!" Evie called out, causing Frisk to let out a disappointed "Awww!" and relent. "It's our turn now!" Asriel smiled and lowered his hands, the lights he'd conjured up fading away as Evie and Adam huddled together to decide their plan of action.

"That's silly!" Evie hissed to Adam.

"It'll work, just do it!" Adam insisted.

"But why do _I_ have to do it?"

Adam glanced over at Frisk nervously. "Just do it already!" Adam growled. Evie sighed and turned to face Frisk and Asriel.

"Frisk!" Evie called out. "Er, I mean 'Royal Guard Dog!' I ACT and…" she shot Adam another look before walking up to Frisk… and petting her on the head. Asriel roared with laughter as Frisk flopped down on her back and acted like a very happy dog, making adorable woofing sounds and moving her hands like they were doggy paws.

Toriel smiled warmly while watching the scene from a nearby park bench. _This is how the world should be,_ she thought to herself as Adam walked up to Asriel and offered him some chewing gum as his ACT for the turn. _Our people and the humans living side-by-side on the surface while our children play games of innocence._ The queen was broken from her reverie when her cell phone beeped to inform her that she had a text message. She opened it to find a short message from Asgore: _We've talked to the Wiseman, and it turns out that the tower is a sort of test for people who have damaged hearts, or something like that. Wiseman says we need to bring Frisk and Asriel there to check something, mind bringing them along? -Gorey._

POP! "GAH!" Toriel looked up sharply upon hearing Asriel's startled cry.

"Oh, shoot!" Adam hissed. "I'm sorry Asriel, I should've warned you about blowing bubbles!" The prince of the monsters now had a wad of sticky pink gum stuck to the front of his muzzle and was having a miserable time trying to remove it from his fur. Adam was apologizing profusely to Asriel and trying to remember tips he'd heard for removing gum, while Frisk and Evie tried their best not to giggle at Asriel's predicament. Toriel smiled and rose from her seat before making her way over to the children.

"It's too sticky," Asriel grumbled as Toriel gently and carefully attempted to pick the gum out of his fur.

"My bad," Adam apologized again. "I didn't think about you having fur."

"It's- OW!- It's alright," Asriel insisted as Toriel cleaned his fur. "At least it tasted pretty good: I've never had bubble gum before!" He offered Adam a sincere smile. "I guess this kinda counts as me being beat though, so I surrender."

"Me too," Frisk said as she joined them. "That was a fun round! So how do we decide who gets to be the humans and who gets to be the monsters next?"

"I am afraid that we must end the game for now," Toriel announced sadly as she finished removing the last of the gum from her son's face. "Your father just texted me to say that we must go to the tower now in order to check on something."

The children let out a chorus of disappointed _awwws_ in response to Toriel's announcement. Adam gave the monsters a curious look before glancing in the direction of the tower. "So, why do you guys need to go to the tower?"

Toriel hesitated for a moment before answering. "Frisk and Asriel have been experiencing terrible nightmares lately. We believed they might be connected to the tower due to the magical qualities it is said to possess, and so we came here to consult the Wiseman that we have heard so much of."

Adam nodded. "D'you mind if Evie and I tag along for a little?"

Toriel smiled. "I do not see why not." Soon the group made its way to the site of the tower, with the children happily chatting with each other along the way. Adam and Evie had no end of questions about what life was like in the Underground and what it was like to use magic, while Asriel had plenty of questions about what life on the surface was like.

 _(Stop the music)_

But soon the group reached the very center of town, a vast expanse of open cobblestone pavement that gave one the impression of a dessert in the middle of the settlement. Toriel noted a series of white tents nearby and deduced that they must be Alphys's field lab. _I would have words with this 'Alphys' concerning her outlandish creation,_ Toriel thought to herself as she moved in the direction of the tents.

"Wow…" Frisk muttered as she and Asriel stood staring at the open area along with Adam and Evie. "It really is all empty space like Undyne said!"

Adam grinned knowingly. "That's nothing: watch this!" Adam took a few steps forward, quietly counting aloud to himself as he took ten steps in…

 _(Play Chill_ _)_

Asriel and Frisk gasped. Like a curtain being drawn aside, the empty air seemed to pull away and reveal an impossibly tall tower; no matter how much they craned their heads they couldn't see the top. It loomed grandly over the entire town and cast a long shadow that stretched all the way to the forest beyond, blocking out the sun as suddenly as if night had fallen. The stone and material that comprised it seemed to give off a soothing soft-blue luminescence of some kind, and the construction and architecture appeared to seamlessly shift and transition from style to style to style every few feet the further up one looked. It gave off a feeling of complete otherworldliness, as though it was somehow there and not-there at the same time. Two large doors made of a polished white material stood sentinel just a few yards from where Adam had stopped. With a deep and low _boom,_ the doors began to slowly swing outwards, startling Adam and causing him to retreat to where Frisk and Asriel stood.

"It's never opened on its own before," Adam muttered in awe as the doors continued their inexorable journey to open completely. "Usually you just go up to them and knock, and then it opens after a few seconds." By now Toriel had come back to stand with them, her normally composed expression slack with wonder as she beheld the scale of what they had been seeking. A sudden wind swept past them and into the tower, making the children shiver in the shadow of the tower.

"So," Toriel whispered. "This is the Tower of Dreaming Moons…"

 _...Asriel…_

Asriel stiffened. _What was that? That sounded like…_ He blinked when he thought he saw someone standing within the shadows of the doorway. He felt something… warm and soft in his chest, like there was a ball of heated wool snuggled against him.

Frisk felt something as well. Somehow the feeling was familiar to her: it felt like for the first time in her life she was going the right way, or that she'd somehow found something really important.

The feeling filled her with determination.

 **.**

 **.**

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

 **.**

 **.**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: So does that non-Undertale suggestion work for you guys, or should I try to find a way to make the Undertale tracks work?**

 **I am very fond of this chapter because it really sets out the bulk of the AU I'm building here. Next chapter will be slightly transitional again but I'm hoping that we'll get to exploring the tower in it. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, as always please review and/or PM me and let me know what you think, and stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, it has been brought to my attention that Youtube links don't work in Story docs, thank you slayer911 for pointing this out. However, there are a few tracks that really capture some of the scenes that I have planned which are not strictly Undertale tracks (mostly remixes of certain Undertale tracks and a few fan-made tracks). So to solve this dilemma, I am going to create a list on my profile that has links to the tracks, and since they'll be on my profile they** _ **should**_ **work. The list will be on my main profile under the heading "Sweet Dreems Tracks" and will be numbered. I'll use these numbers here in the chapters to refer to certain tracks on the list. For example, if I say something like play Track 1, you would flip to my profile and click the Youtube link listed as 1.** _ **Hopefully**_ **that will work, and hopefully it will prevent you guys from being spoiled as to the plot of my fic.**

 **Ch. 9: Guidance**

 _(Play Mysterious Place)_

The small group cautiously stepped inside the tower, still in awe of the sheer size and presence of the structure. The space within the tower consisted of a single enormous round room, one that had four raised platforms in the center. There was one platform in the very center of the room, while the other three were spread a few yards away from it in a triangle pattern. Each platform was made of some sort of golden metal and had a glowing sphere of soft blue light hovering above it. Above each sphere was some sort of floating slab made of blue stone, each bearing a series of symbols. The walls of the room were all smooth surfaces and columns made of the same blue material, stretching up and up so high that the ceiling could not be seen. In fact, instead of a ceiling above them, the group was surprised to find that they were staring up at the night sky!

Toriel was speechless at the sight before her, and she felt a strange mixture of excitement and apprehension within her heart. While everyone was looking around the room, Adam's gaze was focused solely on the platforms.

"I know those weren't there any of the other times I've been in here," he said. Frisk and Asriel turned to follow his gaze.

"Those platforms?" Asriel clarified. "But they look like they've always been a part of this room. And how is it that the tower is so empty? From the outside it looked… I dunno, fuller or something?"

"Mister Wiseman says that the tower changes shape depending on who goes in," Evie spoke up. "This room has always been here I think, so maybe the platforms are here because of us?"

"Nothing like this ever happens whenever _I_ come in though!" Adam argued.

One of the floating stone slabs caught Frisk's eye. The slab nearest them was hovering over one of the outer platforms, and on it was a picture of some sort. Moving a little closer, Frisk was able to make out a circle of six hearts surrounding something. The 'something' in the middle looked familiar to her, but she couldn't quite make it out. She moved even closer to the platform, but stopped when she felt something odd come over her. It wasn't a _bad_ feeling or an unsettling one, but it was very strange: it felt to Frisk as though she was being gently tugged in every single direction at once.

Toriel noticed Frisk standing by herself and went over to check on her. "Frisk? Is there something wrong?"

"I feel kind of funny," Frisk mumbled, squirming a little as the tugging became just a little more insistent. Toriel moved behind Frisk to give her a comforting hug, and as she did so three of the hearts on the slab Frisk had been looking at lit up! Toriel noticed Frisk's gaze and looked at the slab, eyes widening slightly in recognition of what she saw. Six hearts, three of them now glowing: one green, one blue, one yellow, and in the center was a faintly glowing replica of the delta rune used as the royal crest.

"What is this?" Toriel wondered out loud. "Six hearts…" She let out a soft gasp as realization choked her. _Six hearts for six children…_ Frisk noticed the look on Toriel's face and couldn't help but worry.

"Mom? What's wrong?"

"N-nothing my child," Toriel lied as she held back her sorrow. "I was merely… taken aback by the scale of this room."

Off to the side Asriel was examining one of the walls while Evie and Adam poked around one of the outer platforms. He ran his hand along the wall and felt how smooth and cool it was, as if it was made of smooth ice. When he drew his hand away he felt a slight tingle from where it had been touching the wall that quickly faded. "Wow, the magic in the stones is really, really strong. I wonder if it feels that way because the tower is so old?"

 _...Asriel...you came back…_

Asriel whirled around, his heart skipping a beat as he searched frantically for the source of the voice. That warm feeling that he'd had just after the doors opened was back, even stronger than before. And there was something else as well, he felt… _nostalgic_. Asriel blinked as he felt something wet rolling down his cheek. Putting a hand to his face, Asriel was surprised to find that a single tear had indeed escaped him. "What's this feeling?" The young boss monster wondered out loud. "Why do I feel…"

"Asriel?" Adam called out when he saw the young monster's face. "You okay? You look really confused."

"I _am_ confused," Asriel admitted as he wiped his tear away. "I keep hearing a familiar voice call my name, and just now I felt really happy, like I'd just found out a friend who went away long ago has decided to come back." He noticed that Adam and his sister shared a mystified and knowing look. "Do you guys know what's going on?"

"Maybe the fairies are calling him to the top?" Evie suggested. "That must be why the tower changed when we came in; it wants to help him!"

"Maybe," Adam muttered, "But why so many platforms? It looks like he's not the only one the tower's trying to help?"

Asriel frowned. "Hey! I'm right in front of you guys!"

Adam and Evie both started a little. "Sorry," Adam apologized sheepishly. "Just got a little excited. Old Wiseman says that this tower was made a long time ago by fairies to help people whose hearts were hurting. The tower is supposed to call to people in their dreams and then change shape for them so that it can test them as they climb to the top. So if you guys have been having nightmares about the tower, and seeing how it changed shape when you came in, it must want you to climb it so you can reach the top and have a wish granted"

Asriel's eyes widened. "Fairies? Wishes? I don't understand."

 _(Play sans)_

"Hoh hoh hoh, perhaps I can clarify things young prince." Asriel and the others turned to see the rest of the group entering the room, an elderly human leading them.

"Golly," Asgore remarked as he took in the room. "This is amazing! I wonder how high this tower goes?"

Toriel gently took Frisk by the hand and led her over to the others, giving the elderly human a polite nod. "Greetings, I am Toriel. Am I correct in assuming that you are the one the townsfolk call Wiseman?"

"That's me alright!" Wiseman replied with a short bow. "And you must be queen Toriel. Delighted to meet you, hoh hoh! I'm assuming that adorable rascal in the white fur is your little one!" He opened an eye a little wider at Frisk. "Hmmm, and who might you be young lady?"

Frisk retreated behind Toriel a little, the old man's assessing gaze making her a little bashful. "I'm F-F-Frisk. Frisk Dreemurr."

"Delighted to meet you too young F-F-Frisk, hoh hoh!" Wiseman joked, causing Frisk to giggle a little and relax her guard. "So this is the little one you and the king have taken in, eh? She looks like she's got a good heart in her!" Toriel smiled at Wiseman's kind assessment. He glanced over at Adam and Evie and made a thoughtful noise. "And I see you've met little Evie and her brother, the town rapscallion, hoh hoh hoh!"

Adam shot Wiseman an annoyed look. "Don't call me that! I am _not_ a raps… whatever, old man!"

"'Old man?' I'm not old, you little pup! I'm experienced!"

"That's just another way of saying you've been around for a long time, which makes you old as dirt!" Adam shot back. Toriel couldn't help but giggle at the childish exchange between the senior and junior, both of whom were trading insults like five year olds. A bit of movement near the back of the group caught the queen's eye and she noticed a yellow lizard monster dressed in a white lab coat. Toriel narrowed her eyes at the nervous looking monster who was trying to hide behind Asgore and began to move in her direction.

Asriel turned away from his father's summary of the story that Wiseman had told them about the tower to see his mother making a beeline for Dr. Alphys, the look on her face promising a firm scolding. Thinking fast, Asriel called out: "Oh, hi Dr. Alphys! Thanks for helping me to get better!" Everyone looked at Asriel and Alphys with puzzled expressions; even Alphys looked confused. Still, it had caused Toriel to stop moving towards Alphys as though she meant to verbally skin her, which was what Asriel had been going for in the first place.

"H-h-huh?" Alphys stammered. "W-what're you..?"

"'Helped you get better?'" Undyne said uncertainly. "What do you mean by..?"

"Dr. Alphys helped me to get better after I got… hurt when I went through the barrier to take Chara home," Asriel said, trying hard to look confident as he lied through his teeth. Fortunately his father got the gist and played along.

"Yes, Asriel was badly hurt when he returned to New Home, but Dr. Alphys was able to, umm…"

"Freeze him!" Alphys chimed in, not entirely sure what was going on but certain that the king and prince were covering for her. "I-I froze prince Asriel so that he wouldn't d-die, and th-that gave me t-t-time to find a way to heal him!" Alphys was sweating profusely, partly because everyone's eyes were on her, but mostly because the _queen's_ eyes were on her.

"WOW, IS THAT RIGHT?" Papyrus asked. "GOODNESS! I BET THAT FELT REALLY COLD!"

"Huh, so that's what you were always working on back in the Underground," Undyne said with a nod. "No wonder you were shut up in your lab all the time: you were trying to find a way to save the prince!" Undyne flashed a toothy grin. "That's pretty awesome!" Alphys was sweating buckets by now and her face was cherry red. Luckily for her, Wiseman finished his little standoff with Adam and took a look around the room.

 _(Stop the music)_

"Hmmm, four entry points, three surrounding a central point. Very interesting indeed."

"Do you know what those platforms are for, then?" Undyne asked.

"Oh yes indeed! Those are actually what I've come to call passages; they link two different points in the tower like a sort of magical staircase or bridge. These particular points all lead to the floor above this one, level one as I like to call it."

Papyrus stared at the space above, eye sockets squinting as if trying to see something tiny. "WHAT FLOOR? I DON'T SEE ANYTHING UP THERE AT ALL!"

"Well you see, this tower being a part of Alfheim and all, it doesn't follow the rules of our reality," Wiseman explained. "Space can do all sorts of strange and interesting things in here. Why, in the floor above this one there could be a whole jungle that floats millions of miles off the ground!"

Asriel and Frisk stared at Wiseman with eyes wide with wonder. "Wow, the tower can do that?" Frisk asked.

"That's a simple matter for this place!" Wiseman nodded with a smile. "Then there's all the fairies that're hidin' in the floors above too, waitin' to test you so you can prove your worth! But getting back to the passages, the fact that there's four of them means that four people, or four groups maybe, need to climb this tower at the same time. These passages will take whoever is meant to use them to a different section of the floor above. These sections may be separate from each other, but more often than not they will sometimes intersect so that the different groups can help remove obstacles blocking the way of their friends. And in the end each separate path will come together at the very top, where the goal is."

Toriel frowned at the passages. "But then, what is the meaning of the symbols floating above the passages?"

"They show who is supposed to use that passage," Wiseman replied. "The symbol is supposed to represent the person or persons the passage is meant for, and when the right person stands before it the symbol will light up. When the passage concerns a group, the entire group must be present for the sphere there to turn gold, indicating that the way is open."

Papyrus noticed the symbol on one of the platforms and stepped closer to examine it. "HEY SANS, LOOK AT THIS ONE! IT'S A SUPER-COOL SKULL!" It was indeed a skull, one with two empty eye sockets. But as soon as Papyrus got close enough, the right eye socket lit up with an orange flame! "HUH? HEY, LOOK! PART OF IT LIT UP! COULD THIS MEAN THAT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM MEANT TO CLIMB THIS TOWER?"

"It certainly looks that way," Wiseman nodded as sans slowly approached the platform next to his brother.

"hmmm, wonder if that means…" Just like with Papyrus, sans' presence caused the symbol to light up, the left eye socket filling with a blue flame. A moment later the blue sphere of the passage emitted a soft chime and turned golden. "yup, looks like me and Pap have to take this one."

Undyne narrowed her eye and began to examine the platforms more closely. _C'mon, please let there be one for me, please let there be one for…_ Undyne stopped as the symbol of a figure clad in armor and holding a weapon caught her eye. Above the figure was a… lightning bolt, maybe? But none of that mattered to Undyne, as the figure's armor and weapon both began to glow blue, revealing that it was actually a spear!

"SWEET!" Undyne exclaimed, punching the air excitedly. "This is so awesome! It's like something out of one of Alphys's anime!" Her smile turned into a frown as she realized something. "Wait, the passage didn't turn gold. Does that mean I have to go in a group too?"

Evie squinted hard at the symbol Undyne was looking at. The way its body was shaped, and the way it had a tail… "E-excuse me, Dr. Alphys?"

Alphys blinked. "U-um, yes?"

"Could you come stand over here for a sec, please?"

"I uh, um, I guess?" Alphys shyly scooted closer to the spot Evie had indicated, wringing her hands nervously the closer she got to Undyne. The armor clad figure began to glow with yellow light, revealing it to be a lizard clad in armor. Alphys could only stare in disbelief. "Oh no. I, uh, oh man, this is really… um, I…" She was seconds away from having a full blown meltdown.

"Huh, so I'm teaming up with Alphys?" Undyne said out loud. She gave Alphys a sideways glance and rubbed her arm absently. "Um, cool, I guess?" She smiled awkwardly. Then she noticed something. "Hey wait a sec! The passage didn't turn gold, that means we're missing someone!"

Alphys adjusted her glasses and squinted at the symbol, grateful to have _anything_ to distract her from her current nerve-wracking situation. "There's s-something above the figure. It looks kinda like a…" Her eyes widened. "Oh no…"

"OHH YES!" Everyone jumped as Mettaton suddenly materialized out of nowhere a few feet from Undyne and Alphys. "WELCOME BACK TO THE SHOW BEAUTIES AND GENTLE-BEAUTIES! WE'RE LIVE IN THE MYSTERIOUS TOWER OF DREAMING MOONS, WHERE WE'VE JUST DISCOVERED THE MAKINGS OF A PERILOUS AND EXCITING JOURNEY!"

"When the heck did _you_ get here?!" Undyne snarled.

"I'VE BEEN HERE THE WHOLE TIME!" Mettaton proudly replied as his camera bots seemed to fade into view all around the chamber, training there lenses on everyone. "I CAUGHT UP TO YOU WHEN YOU ENTERED DAWN TOWN AND USED THE NEW STEALTH SYSTEM THAT DR. ALPHYS INSTALLED IN ME DURING MY RECENT UPGRADE! THAT WAY I COULD FILM EVERYONE AND GET THE INSIDE SCOOP WITHOUT BEING DETECTED!"

The glare Toriel directed at Alphys could melt steel. "I-I-I found a bunch of n-new blueprints o-on my desk a f-few days ago," Alphys stammered. "Th-they were upgrades f-for Mettaton and th-they were labeled 'very important, install right away!' And were s-s-signed by someone called 'E.'"

Asriel groaned. _He did this? Why?_

 _(Sorry ^^;)_

"THAT'S RIGHT! OUR LOVELY VIEWERS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO WATCH THE FIRST REAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN MONSTERS AND HUMANS! FRISK AND PRINCE ASRIEL'S ADORABLE PLAY-DATE IN THE PARK! PAPYRUS' HANDS-ON COOKING LESSON! AND THE MYSTERIOUS HISTORY OF THE FAIRIES WHO SAVED OUR KIND DURING THE TERRIBLE WAR CENTURIES AGO! AND NOW WE FIND THAT PRINCE ASRIEL AND FRIENDS ARE PLAGUED BY AWFUL NIGHTMARES THAT ONLY…"

The jagged line above Undyne and Alphys's shared passage lit up a bright pink, revealing that it was in fact a 'M.' Undyne' s jaw dropped open. "You are _kidding_ me!"

"OH MY!" Mettaton put a hand to his (faceplate?) in shock. "IT WOULD APPEAR AS THOUGH THE TOWER IS SAYING THAT _I_ MUST ACCOMPANY DR. ALPHYS AND UNDYNE UP INTO THE TOWER!" Right on cue the passage chimed and turned golden. Both Undyne and Alphys hung their heads in defeat as a camera bot zoomed in on Mettaton. "ISN'T THIS EXCITING FOLKS? A BRAND NEW ADVENTURE IN THE MYSTERIOUS REALM OF THE FAIRIES, ALL CAPTURED LIVE BY YOURS TRULY! THIS COULD BE THE MAKING OF A FABULOUS NEW SHOW! 'THE TOWER TALE!' WITH YOUR HOST, METTATON!"

Toriel groaned in exasperation as Mettaton continued to monologue, occasionally interrupted by a remark from Alphys and Undyne. Glancing over at the platform she and Frisk had approached earlier, she frowned and turned to Asgore. "Asgore, could you please accompany me to the platform just there?"

Asgore blinked at Toriel in surprise. "Er, sure Tori, but why..?" His eyes widened when he got close enough to see the symbol. Sure enough, once the two boss monsters were close enough all six hearts lit up, and in the middle the royal crest shone brightly. The passage chimed once and activated as Asgore hung his head, his expression unreadable.

Toriel moved closer to her ex and laid a hand on his shoulder. "It would seem that you must accompany me up into the tower," she began carefully. "I am certain that Frisk and Asriel must climb it as well, and that there will be times when we will be able to help them." She gave Asgore a warm smile. "Will you help me watch over our children?"

Asgore remained silent a moment before smiling and nodding. "Of course. It is my duty, as a father."

Adam frowned at the platform in the very center of the room. "Hey Frisk, Asriel, c 'mere a sec." As soon as the two of them were close the symbol began to glow. Asriel's eyes widened and he took a step back upon seeing what it was, causing Frisk and Adam to give him an odd look.

The symbol was of a flower, one with the royal crest in the center and a four pointed star on each petal. However, Asriel took a step closer when he realized that the flower itself wasn't glowing: only the royal crest and stars were glowing, the royal crest shining green and the stars shining yellow.

But then the passage chimed and turned golden, much to their confusion despite the fact that the flower still wasn't glowing. "That's weird," Adam muttered. "It's like the tower is saying you need one more person, but it's letting you go in anyway?"

"That _is_ strange," Wiseman mused as he came up behind them. "Hmmm. Perhaps it means that you will meet someone along the way? This has never happened before, so I'm afraid I can only speculate at this point."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Undyne demanded impatiently. "Let's get this thing done!"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Wiseman cautioned. "First of all there's a limit to how long you can explore the tower in one sitting. You can only enter the tower by day: once night begins to fall the tower will transport everyone to its entrance and kick everyone out before shutting up tight for the night."

Undyne waved a hand dismissively. "Psssh, so? It's only midday, we can still get a ton done!"

"Actually, I'm afraid you can't, seeing as young Frisk can't use the passage yet."

Frisk looked surprised. "I can't? Why?"

"Do you feel that tugging?" Wiseman asked. "I'm pretty sure Adam and Evie feel something pretty similar to it."

"Hey yeah," Adam muttered. "I was wondering about that."

"I don't feel anything like that," Asriel interjected. "What are you guys talking about?"

"The feeling I describe is the effect of non-magic beings like us humans standing in a place that is made of nothing but magic and dreams," Wiseman explained. "Whenever a human enters Alfheim, they must be guided through it or risk being lost amid the sea of the dreams of every living creature in the world."

"Then, will the fairies send someone to guide Frisk?" Asgore asked.

"Oh no," Wiseman shook his head. "Many fairies still distrust humans for the awful things that happened in the war. I'm sure the fairies will allow you and the other monsters to explore the tower freely your majesty, but humans aren't so lucky. If a fairy came and offered to guide me I'd turn him down in a heartbeat: that's just asking for the fairy to cause me no end of grief and mischief. No, we humans require a different guide."

"So, where is this guide?" Adam asked. To everyone's confusion, Wiseman pointed at his forehead.

"Why, in here! You see, when fairies left earth they made a great big wish: that one day humankind would be strong enough to throw off the evils that were born during the war. That wish gave birth to a creature who lives in between dream and reality. He is made out of our potential for kindness, compassion, all of the good things in the human heart. Whenever a human came to this tower in the old tales, he had to spend one night in town before climbing it to allow the guide to come to him in his dreams. If the guide appears in your dream, then you know that he has deemed you worthy of his help and you'll be able to start climbing the tower straightaway."

Asgore hummed. "So we need to wait for this guide to come to Frisk in her dreams?"

"Exactly," Wiseman confirmed. "Why don't you folks spend the night in town?"

Evie's eyes lit up with excitement. "Oh, oh, oh! You guys can stay with us! Our parents run the Inn nearby, I'm sure we've got room!"

Adam quickly mirrored his sister's enthusiasm. "Hey yeah! That way you guys don't have to go all the way home tonight and then have to come back tomorrow morning, and we can show you guys the rest of the town!"

Asgore made a big show of pretending to mull it over, but laughed when Frisk and Asriel sent him pleading looks. "I think that sounds like a wonderful idea. We can all spend the night and learn more about how humans live up here."

"OH GOODIE, A SLEEPOVER!" Papyrus exclaimed. "I'D BETTER RUN HOME AND GRAB MY THINGS! CAN'T COOK SPAGHETTI WITHOUT NOODLES!" He then shot off out of the tower like a rocket, leaving everyone but Undyne and sans to gape at his ridiculous speed. everyone else filed out while talking excitedly about the day's events, with Mettaton promising his viewers a commercial-free tour of Dawn Town while Evie chattered excitedly with Frisk and Asriel about her parent's Inn.

Just as he was leaving, Adam thought he heard a voice from the chamber they'd left. Turning around, he was surprised to find that the chamber now only had one platform and passage, one bearing the symbol of a knight that was glowing. Then Adam blinked, and it was gone...

 _ **Later that night…**_

 _Frisk stared at the space around her. Everything was empty, but colored with a soothing soft blue light. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see a tall man dressed in a blue tuxedo. He had short and neat platinum-blond hair and golden eyes that reminded Frisk of a cat almost._

" _Are you the guide who helps humans?" Frisk asked._

" _No, I am not," the man replied in a polite tone. "I am however a servant of his. My master bade me to appear before you in your dreams in order to assess you."_

 _Frisk nodded to show that she understood, even though she didn't understand completely. She held out her hand and gave the man a smile. "My name's Frisk Dreemurr, it's nice to meet you!"_

 _The man blinked in surprise for a moment before smiling and bending down to carefully shake her hand, his much larger white gloved hand enveloping her own. "A pleasure to meet you miss Frisk, I am known as Oscar." He straightened up and gave her a careful and measuring look. "Hmmm, yes, It would appear that you meet the criteria. If you so choose, my master can guide you through the realm of Alfheim. But that is entirely your decision."_

 _Frisk was just about to ask Oscar what he meant when a small desk appeared behind him. On it was a quill and a single piece of blue paper. Oscar walked over to the desk and stood behind it. "If you allow my master to guide you, you will embark on a journey. At many times this journey will be quite dangerous, and it is very possible that you and those close to you might die." Frisk flinched at his words. "However, if you are successful, your foster brother Asriel Dreemurr will finally know true peace, and certain burdens that trouble your friends and loved ones will bother them no more." Oscar gestured to the paper. "If you wish to help them, then you must sign this contract."_

 _Frisk walked up to the desk and examined the contract._

 _ **I, _, chooseth this fate of mine own free will.**_

 _Frisk looked back up at Oscar, a confused look on her face._

 _Oscar smiled gently at her unvoiced question. "I apologize if the contract's terms seem unclear. To put it in simplest terms, this contract says that you will agree to be responsible. Do you know what consequences are, miss Frisk?"_

 _Frisk thought for a moment. "It's what happens when you do something and something bad happens, right?"_

" _Close. A consequence doesn't have to be bad, in fact there are many good consequences in life. Say for instance that you accidentally bring too much food with you to school one day. You can't possibly eat it all, but what if there is another child who forgot to bring his lunch? As a consequence of bringing too much food…"_

" _I can let him have some of mine!" Frisk beamed._

 _Oscar smiled. "Indeed. And as a consequence of deciding to share your food, you may end up becoming friends." He turned his attention to the contract. "This contract states that you will take full responsibility for any consequences that come about due to your own actions. In short, no blaming others if things don't turn out the way you want after something you did." He fixed Frisk with a calm smile. "If you agree to these terms, my master will guide you through Alfheim. If not, then you will never be able to enter Alfheim safely."_

 _Frisk looked down at the contract for a few moments. Then she picked up the quill and dipped it in a well of blue ink that appeared next to the paper. She carefully wrote her name in the blank space, and both the quill and the paper vanished in a soft flash of blue light._

 _Oscar smiled as the desk vanished and bowed before Frisk. "Excellent. I am glad that…" He trailed off with a look of shock as he caught sight of something behind Frisk. Turning around, Frisk saw that a blue butterfly was flying closer to her, gently fluttering to and fro._

" _M-master?" Oscar asked breathlessly. The butterfly fly right up to Frisk and perched upon her nose. It was tickly at first, but then it spread its wings before her eyes. Frisk found herself unable to look away or even blink, and she felt something soothing come over her, as if all of the bad memories that Toriel said weren't hers had happened to somebody else. She felt so very peaceful and calm…_

 _Then the butterfly took off, and Frisk blinked herself free of the trance. "My goodness…" Oscar muttered to himself. "For my master to make an appearance before you… There may be even more to you than I initially realized." Oscar smiled and gave Frisk another bow. "I look forward to watching you make your journey miss Frisk, and I wish you all the luck in the world." With that the room began to fade, and Frisk found herself slipping into a different dream..._

 _ **.**_

 _sans glanced around the blank space, for once at a loss. These last few days had been… nice for him. He had no-idea what would come next, monsters were on the surface, and no-one was constantly resetting the timeline. It was very liberating to finally_ _ **not**_ _know exactly what was going to happen._

 _"Surprises are fun, aren't they bonehead?" I quipped as I materialized inside sans' dream. He turned around and gave me a wary look before replying._

 _"sure is. am i supposed to know you?"_

 _"Sorta," I admitted with a shrug. "I'm Eltyr, the guy who set all this up."_

 _sans nodded slowly in understanding. "so you're the one responsible for everyone having a bad time last night too, then." His left eye began to glow blue._

 _I sighed. "Yes and no. I planned for something bad to happen in your dreams to set everyone on the path to the tower, but_ _ **what**_ _actually happened was not specified, so the Nightmares did the rest." I grinned. "Wasn't expecting what Undyne did. That was pretty sweet." I shook my head. "Anyway, I'm here to tell you that Frisk and Asriel aren't the only ones being helped by this little adventure I've concocted."_

 _"i noticed," sans grinned a little wider. "Alphys was as red as a tomato."_

 _"Yeah, and then there's the king and queen. But I'm not here to talk about that: this is about_ _ **you**_ _."_

 _sans blinked as I pressed on. "You and Pap have someone to find in the tower. It was a titanic pain in the rear helping him in, since I originally hadn't planned on him being around. Lucky for you and your bro, someone pointed something very true out to me, so I got to work."_

 _sans looked_ _ **really**_ _puzzled now. "who are you talking about?"_

 _(Play track 4)_

 _The hiss of static began to fill the empty space along with the smell of ozone. sans stiffened, both eyes glowing blue as he spun around and saw the darkness open up. Inside was a tall figure clothed in a black tuxedo, white gloves covering his hands._

 _"s̶̢͝à̡͘̕͟n̵͏̴͘͞s̡͞.͘͞.̶̡͏̡̨.҉ ̷̶͞͝í́͘t̸͢'̶͝s̴̢̧̢ ̸̧҉b̴̧e̢͡e͞n̵̡͢͡ ̛̕͞҉̧s͏͘͟ò̵̕͡ ͘҉̴̷̡l̡̧͘͜͞o̶͏n̡̕͟͠g̶̕.̷̴̀̀͟ ͢͜I͏͠'̛͞m̢̡̕ ̨à̢l҉̷m̢̛͞҉̨ǫ̡s͟t͝͝.҉͜͡.̴̨̡́͞.̵̧̕͘͠ ̴̕ẁ̷̴è̶͜͝ ͜͞c̵̴̛̕͜á̵̶͡n̡͜͞͝ ̢͘̕͘͟b͘͠͞҉e̴.̷.̸́͜.҉̶͠͞"_

 _"Easy there," I said, not sure who really needed to hear it more: sans looked_ _ **this close**_ _to calling a wall of gaster blasters. "Let's not jump the gun. sans, do you know who that is?"_

 _sans looked at me like I was crazy, but then he looked thoughtful. "...i'm getting the feeling that i'm supposed to, but i don't." The figure (or what could be seen of him that wasn't obscured by static and odd symbols) looked absolutely defeated._

 _"Hang in there, doc," I called out cheerfully. "We made it this far. Now that you've_ _ **sorta**_ _put in an appearance, I'm pretty sure your condition will really start to improve." I turned back to sans. "You and Papyrus need to find him in the tower. He needs help real bad sans, he's been hurt in a way that really shouldn't be possible, and you two are the only ones who can fix this."_

 _"you still haven't told me who he is," sans pointed out, his expression serious for the first time that I'd seen out of a YouTube video or fan artwork._

 _"I can't. You and Papyrus need to remember that on your own. There's something missing from your memories. Start from there and work it out yourselves. Along with climbing the tower, that's the most helpful thing you can do for him."_

 _sans gave the figure another look. The figure looked back at him, and smiled sadly. "...ah, what the heck," sans said at last. "never been one not to help when someone needed it." sans blinked. He was alone again, no strange human or even stranger figure. However, as he drifted into a more normal dream, he realized with a start that he was crying..._

 _(Switch to Reunited)_

 _Asriel laughed and threw the ball again. It was his favorite red one that his dad had gotten him for his birthday. But it wasn't his father who caught the ball, or Frisk, or his mother, it wasn't even Chara, it was…_

 _Asriel blinked. It was her again. She smiled gently at him and threw the ball back, which he caught easily. He stared at her for a few moments, feeling a tickle in the back of his head. He realized that she wasn't a lizard exactly; for some reason, he was sure that she was actually a dragon._

 _"Come on Asriel, throw it back!" The girl called. "That's how catch works, remember?"_

 _Asriel walked up to her slowly, her smile faltering a little. "What's the matter? Do you want to play something else?"_

 _"I know you somehow," Asriel said out loud, almost as if he was trying to convince himself. "I heard your voice today at the tower. And you saved me from Flowey last night. I feel like I should know your name, but I can't remember."_

 _The girl smiled sadly at the young prince. "We met when we were both just kids. I had run away from home, and I found you." Tears began to well up in her eyes. Asriel squirmed uncomfortably: the sight of her tears was very distressing to him, and he didn't even know_ _ **why**_ _. He felt weird, like he was warm and had butterflies in his stomach. "When you find me in the real world, I'll forget all of this happened," she sobbed softly. "I won't be able to remember any of the times we played together, just like you can't right now. I won't even remember where I'm really from, or how I know you, just that I know you. I won't even be able to remember my own name…"_

 _Asriel blinked, and suddenly he had his arms around her, gently rubbing her back as she hiccupped and cried into his shoulder. He didn't remember moving, just that he couldn't stand to see Hana cry anymore, and that this felt right. Asriel let out a small gasp. "Hana?"_

 _(Play His Theme)_

 _The girl froze, slowly drawing back to look him in the eyes, her green eyes full of hope as she continued to cry. "What did you..?"_

 _"Your name's Hana; I just remembered!" The look of joy on her face was_ _ **blinding**_ _. Without any warning she hugged him twice as hard as he'd hugged her, new tears seeping into his shoulder. "Hana…" Asriel whispered, feeling his own eyes cloud with tears. He felt really good. It was like all of the bad things that had happened to him when he agreed to Chara's plan had happened to someone else. He_ knew _this girl, and she was important to him somehow. But why couldn't he remember?_

 _"When… when will I see you again?" Asriel asked, feeling himself starting to wake up and fearing that she would disappear forever if he let go._

 _"I'm sleeping in a dream of your mother's garden," Hana whispered, the warmth of her body beginning to leave Asriel. "When I wake up in the tower I won't remember… please, don't forget me, promise?"_

 _"Of course I promise!" Asriel cried as everything turned white. "I won't forget Hana, I promise! Frisk and I will find you! I'll..!"_

Asriel stared up into the darkness that pervaded the room, his right hand stretched out towards the ceiling as if trying to grasp something. He felt the wetness of fresh tears on his face as he lay there in bed, the sound of his father's soft snoring coming from the next room. Asriel let his arm fall to his side, his heart aching from the whirlwind of feelings surging within him. Joy, nostalgia, excitement, wonder. Asriel laid a hand over his chest, feeling his heart slowly thumping away. "Hana…" he whispered softly. He got up out of bed and quietly padded over to window to the right of the bed, drawing aside the curtains to look through. There was the tower looming in the center of town, just a few blocks away. It seemed to shine proudly in the moonlight, and near the top a corona of gentle colors formed a soft veil of lights.

"I'll remember you Hana. I promise."

He was filled with hope.

 **.**

 **.**

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

 **.**

 **.**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: There, finally done with this one! I had a lot of fun writing this, especially towards the middle. Now then, the guide… some of you raven eyed readers who have lived in the dreamless dorm probably know who it is; please DON'T SAY WHO IT IS IN THE REVIEWS, I** _ **WILL**_ **take your reviews down! This is** _ **not**_ **a crossover, this story will draw upon those elements in the future, but this will still remain purely an Undertale fic, so don't worry.**

 **Are the tracks on my profile working? Let me know if they aren't.**

 **Thanks to guest reviewer Dappersans for pointing a certain something out to me. If you're reading this, then** _ **his**_ **appearance is all thanks to you, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.**

 **Next chapter we finally begin exploring the tower! Christmas is right around the corner in the US though, so expect a major delay between now and the next chapter. I made this one extra-long and juicy to compensate, so I hope that helps.**

 **As always please review, fav and/or PM me and let me know what you think.**

 **Hana: And stay tuned for the next chapter everyone!**


End file.
